


Under False Pretenses

by saunatonttu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, University AU, but also post-canon i guess i dunno man, daisuga and hinata/yamaguchi on the sidelines, fake dating au, not important enough to get to the relationships tag but they're there, stupidly gross and romantic au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-15 16:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3454292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saunatonttu/pseuds/saunatonttu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo Tetsurou is just his pretend boyfriend. Tsukishima Kei is nothing more than that to Kuroo-san, either, and that works for both of them. <br/>Or so it would seem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. C'est la Vie

**Author's Note:**

> So, this ship hit me out of nowhere, and I blame it on the zombie AU kurotsuki I recently read. WEEPS. ALSO I haven't even read Haikyuu or fully finished the anime, so what am I doing, really. REALLY. But anyway, this AU is wrecking me, so I needed to post this.

“You alright, babe?”

Tetsurou’s grin was, decidedly, brighter than the street lamps that hovered above them as they strolled through the park on their way back to the campus of their university. Hinata and Yamaguchi had already separated from them as they headed off to their respective dormitories, which left Tetsurou and Kei alone with each other in the dark Tokyo evening.

Kei’s lips curled into a scowl as he adjusted the scarf on his neck, pointedly ignoring the hand Tetsurou held out for him to hold. “Cut it out. We’re not on a date anymore.”

“Dude,” Tetsurou pouted, “you’re ruining the moment.”

Kei shook his head, giving his supposed boyfriend a Look.

“Fine.” Tetsurou shoved his hand into the pocket of his thick winter jacket, but the easy smile that was so like him never faded from the edge of his lips. Kei’s own mouth curled down in mild annoyance as he hurried his steps the moment the first snowflakes hit their red noses.

“Do you think they bought it?” Kei asked, thinking back on the double date and Yamaguchi’s particularly stunned expression at the beginning. Tsukki, you never told me it was Kuroo-san! The next second he had seemed to get over this, however, and enthusiastically chatted with Kuroo (Tetsurou, Kei forcibly reminded himself) about embarrassing shit Kei would rather not think about.

“Hm,” Tetsurou hummed thoughtfully, “I believe so, if your friend’s plea for another double date in the future is anything to go by."  _Besides, you ask this every time,_ Tetsurou's bored undertone implied. 

“When did—” Kei’s hands fiddled with the headphones around his neck, irritation showing through each movement. “Never mind him.”

“Rude,” Tetsurou poked at the side of Kei’s headphones, “you still took these with you on our date.” But the smirk that adorned his face betrayed the words, and Kei huffed something incomprehensible in return, shoulders relaxing despite himself.

To be honest, Kuroo wasn’t the worst pretend boyfriend Kei could have picked — hell, this had been Tetsurou’s idea in the first place, and Kei had reluctantly agreed to it for the benefits the deal had for him. Like getting everyone to shut up about his love life, and getting someone to suffer with him through Hinata and Yamaguchi’s stupidly romantic dates that sometimes seemed to include Tsukishima Kei’s dorm room and video games.

And fake dating removed the issue of actually trying to get an actual date, which Kei really couldn’t care less to put an effort into.

Strengthening his friendship with Kuroo-san through this was an added bonus, as well, though Kei was fine either way.

“Whatever,” Kei mumbled, “thank you for the company tonight.”

“It’s too early for that,” Tetsurou hummed, and from his side Kei saw the wind ruffle at Tetsurou’s long black bags. In the luminescent lights, the sight could have been rather beautiful — coupled with the smell uptilt of Tetsurou’s lips, and the flush of cold that tinted cheeks. “Let me take you back to your dorm first before goodbyes.”

Kuroo Tetsurou was, decidedly, either the best partner for fake dating schemes or the absolute worst due to his persistence.

Either way, if Kei was objective for a moment, he was in luck.

 

.

.

.

 

Next morning, Kei woke up to not his mobile alarm but to a text message — which itself was peculiar, since no one really texted him asides from Akiteru, and Tetsurou on occasion when he was being a pain. And Yamaguchi, naturally, now that they didn’t hang out in real life as much as in middle school.

Today the honor went to none of them, surprisingly, and Kei had to squint his eyes a little to disperse the disbelief when he saw the sender’s name.

Sugawara-san had always struck him as someone polite enough not to send message at 8 am, but it had been more than a couple years since Kei’s first year in high school and things notoriously tended to change. Even though they apparently shared a major in medicine, he hadn’t bumped into the older student — no shit, the medical program was pretty popular after all — after a coincidence in his first year of university, but after that it was just as though the older student had disappeared.

People changed, Kei knew.

Apparently Sugawara-san had changed into someone who woke people up with text messages at 8 am.

Suppressing a groan, _fuck mornings let me sleep_ , he clicked the message open as he forced himself onto his stomach, chin resting on the back of his arm. Glassless as his eyes were, he still had to squint to decipher the kanji on his smartphone screen.

The message was simple enough, but with morning-fuddled brain it took Kei a few moments to realize the meaning of it.

_Cafeteria, medical department, 2pm._

No explanation whatsoever, and Kei threw the phone back down as his head fell to the dinosaur-patterned pillow.

Monday mornings were foul, but Tuesday mornings after a double date with the most exhausting pair of dorks in the universe were just as bad when woken up three hours before he had to get up and rush out without breakfast.

University life was, go figure, a fucking hassle.

 

.

.

.

 

Sugawara-san — or Suga for short, as most tended to call him due to that sugary smile and just as sweet nature that, to a point, made Kei feel like he had gained another mother without asking for it — had grown considerably even after the incident on Kei’s first year, and soft facial lines had turned harder, more pronounced, teenage chubby cheeks no flatter.

But for most part, Sugawara-san hadn’t changed.

“Ah, I’m sorry for texting so early,” he grinned sheepishly at the blond, hands pressed together in an apologizing gesture as Kei sat himself down on the chair across from Suga. “I just got the idea to meet up with my old underclassmen, so…”

“I thought Sawamura-san was the devious one,” Kei interrupted with a semi-polite but dismissive wave of hand. “You’re plotting something.”

“Plotting? Not at all.” Sugawara’s smile was much less convincing, especially when Kei heard the familiar voices of Hinata and Yamaguchi from his behind, undoubtedly approaching the table Sugawara had been occupying for what seemed to be a while.

“Oh, Tsukki! Sugawara-san!”

“Suga-san!”

Kei turned his head, giving an imperceptible nod towards Yamaguchi’s direction, before pinning a firm look at Sugawara’s sheepish face.

“Okay, so I did have something in mind… Hinata, Yamaguchi, have some crackers.” Sugawara gingerly pushed a box of crackers towards the others, and Hinata all but leaped at the chance for some crackers.

“Thanks, Suga-san!”

Kei could feel his future headache approaching. “What’s this about?” Luckily the lunchtime rush had dissipated, and the cafeteria was much more empty than a couple hours prior, but there were still too many people for Kei’s taste lingering about.

“So, um,” Sugawara scratched at his cheek, one arm lying on the table as he leaned forward, “Daichi and I are moving out from our apartment in a few months, and we figured we should hole at least one party for our kouhai from the high school times, since, you know, that was the height of our youth.”

“Height of your youth,” Kei repeated flatly, and it was sarcastic enough to make Yamaguchi nudge him with his elbow in reproach. Kei curled his lips in annoyance, still skeptical of the phrase.

“Shush,” Sugawara sighed, ruffling his short, pale silver hair, fingers getting stuck in knots here and there. Kei felt odd pang of satisfaction at the wince that spread to the older student’s face. “Since so many of our kouhai came to this university after high school, why not? It gives us time to catch up, and all.”

Kei called bullshit on this explanation, but he supposed Sugawara-san couldn’t help being sentimental, since this was his last year of master’s program if everything went well. And, well, it wasn’t impossible that he actually did care; there was a reason he bore that mother hen reputation throughout his third year in Karasuno.

“That sounds like fun!” Hinata, being the dumb child he was, proclaimed, his expression wavering between thoughtful and excitement. “It’s too bad Kageyama didn’t get into university… He could’ve joined in.”

“Too dumb,” Kei’s instinct to antagonize Kageyama Tobio even when he wasn’t nearby had not died out in the past years of not meeting the King.

“Isn’t he a professional player these days?” Sugawara wondered out loud, his expression softening at Hinata’s pouty face. “Don’t worry, Hinata, others at least are coming. Ryou… I mean, Tanaka’s coming, too, and he’s not at the university either. Noya and Asahi are in a different one, but they said they’ll try to make it in time, since they want to meet up too.”

Yamaguchi leaned over the table to touch Hinata’s arm for comfort. “At least the rest of us old first years will be there, Shouyou, yeah?” And the way Hinata’s face expression lit up at the simple touch was so gross that Kei had to look away, lips curling uncomfortably as Kuroo’s equally gross but fake behavior last night came to his mind.

“Mm, that’s right!” Hinata agreed, but the smile on his more adult-like face (compared to high school, anyway) was wistful. “Tsukishima’s coming too, right? Right?”

At least Hinata didn’t assume straight on that his coming was obvious — Yamaguchi, on the other hand…

“Of course Tsukki will come!” Yamaguchi’s freckled face melted into a smile that was all too sweet for Kei to have any options left. Shit. “Tsukki can bring Kuroo-san with him, too!”

“Kuroo?” Sugawara’s eyes flickered with curiosity, and Kei glared at Yamaguchi. That big-mouthed little shit happened to be his best friend. How unfortunate.

“Kuroo-san and Tsukki are dating,” Yamaguchi informed Sugawara with a satisfied nod, looking very proud of his friend snatching a hot boyfriend. A disarmingly hot, even.

Tch.

“Oh, wow,” Sugawara whistled lowly, eyebrows rising on his brow. “Congratulations, Tsukishima.”

“Whatever.” Kei’s answer could be to either of the statements or the question or the party itself — and so he left it at that, shoulders slumped as he resigned himself to a shitty Friday night. “It’s on Friday?”

“Yup; evening, of course, but there’s no fixed time, really…” Sugawara’s lips curled into a delighted smile just as he checked his phone for something. “Mm, Daichi’s classes end at four that day, and I just have a morning class, so whatever works for you guys. Dates—” Sugawara’s eyes twinkled at Kei, who suppressed a sigh just as Yamaguchi giggled something to Hinata. “—are, of course, acceptable. Tanaka’s probably bringing his girlfriend with him, anyway…”

“Wait, he has a girlfriend? How?”

“You’ll hear all about it on Friday, I’m sure,” Sugawara’s smile turned crooked. “You’re going to have to tell us the story behind you and Kuroo-san, too, of course.”

Ugh.

Friday sounded like it had better stay the fuck away from Tsukishima Kei.

 

.

.

.

 

“A party?” Tetsurou’s face, as expected, split into a shit-eating grin that made Kei roll his eyes and sigh for the umpteenth time that day… and evening. “That sounds like something we do need. Desperately,” Tetsurou continued in a low hum as he wiggled his toes at Kei beneath the small table, succeeding in tickling at the side of the blond’s leg.

“How do you figure?” Kei muttered, mouth half-full with bread he pushed Tetsurou’s foot away with his knee. Or tried to, since Tetsurou only lowered the foot until their ankles bumped awkwardly under the table.

“Hmm, well,” Tetsurou pretended to think, “maybe because that’s where we can show off our fake thing? Parties are what start the rumors, man, even more so than hand-holding in public. Which you object to, by the way.” Was it just Kei or did Tetsurou sound too bitter over that fact for a man that pretended to date him?

Nah, Tetsurou just loved messing with him — and everyone else, for that matter, which was why this deal had been struck in the first place.

Kei swallowed the pieces of bread in his mouth and wiped his mouth with a thumb. “Why would I want rumors about us?” he asked bluntly, pale brown eyes narrow behind his glasses.

“Because you like messing with people and their expectations?” Tetsurou suggested with a careless shrug of his shoulders. “And besides, it keeps the ladies away if they know you’re taken.”

Kei mulled over the words for a moment before nodding half-heartedly. If anything, Tetsurou did know him well enough to realize that much… “Yeah, I suppo—” A pair of fingers brushed against Kei’s lips and the corners of mouth. “…What.”

“Crumbs,” Tetsurou said smugly as he withdrew his fingers, pointedly licking them clean of bread crumbs.

“Stop that,” Kei struggled with coherency for a moment too long, but he regained it soon. Ish. “Stop being stupid.” He’d say _stop acting stupid_ , but, well, Tetsurou wasn’t acting necessarily.

So, who was messing with whom, exactly?

“Hahaha, just humor me, Tsukki,” Tetsurou laughed and put gentle emphasis on the nickname that would haunt Kei for the rest of his life, probably. Not that he cared or had much of a choice anymore after all these years already passed. At least it wasn’t _Kei-chan_ — something Tetsurou had tried to dish out on their first fake date together.

God, that was a horrible memory.

“Stop abusing that nickname already,” Kei muttered, but he knew it went ignored as Tetsurou — _Kuroo-san_ , Kei still mentally insisted — continued.

“But yeah, that party’s a good chance, if Hinata hasn’t already gossiped with half the campus. You said some old Karasuno students are coming too? That libero and your ace?”

“Yeah…”

“Let’s make other prefectures talk about us, too, while we’re at it, then.”

“…Nishinoya-san and Asahi-san aren’t from that far away, goddammit,” Kei nearly choked on his noodles and nudged at Tetsurou’s foot — still connected with his — rather hard. “And what do you mean ‘let’s make them talk about us’ — please stop, Kuroo-san.”

“What, nothing wrong with making this love story a nationally famous one… even if it’s a fake one.”

“I’m not taking you anywhere on Friday if this is how you behave.”

Sometimes he wondered if it was not better to just succumb to the loner lifestyle he had led before these past weeks and several double dates. Now was one of those times, and would not be the last occasion he’d ponder on such questions.

“Stop crashing my place whenever you’re hungry, moron,” Kei added, sighing as he wiped Tetsurou’s mouth clean from the sauce, ignoring the smirk that played on the other’s face immediately afterward. No, Kei was not getting soft, just— he was just doing shit Tetsurou himself should be doing. Ugh. Gross.

“Nah, you’ll take me out, ‘coz Sawamura wants to hear how the hell we happened.”

“…Sugawara-san told him already. Of course,” Kei muttered to himself and resisted the urge to slam his head down onto the edge of the table.

“No secrets from the boyfriend, remember?” Tetsurou cooed, insistently continuing their game of footsie under the table by lifting his foot to brush against Kei’s calf. “It will be fine, Tsukki, really. Relax and let me handle the talking on Friday.”

“That’s just what I’m afraid of doing…”

 


	2. Climate Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He still thinks this is fucking stupid.

In the end, he didn't have time to mull over the Friday fiasco too much, since he had classes to work for — two essays he needed to do research for, and a group project he really hated simply because it required him to try to get along with them. As much as he had grown, Kei could not brag to care much for socializing still.

It was difficult to change completely, after all, and out of the blue, but  _people in general_  made it impossible for Kei to want to get to know them or be nice…r…ish.

Friday afternoon came by eventually, and alright, Kei was ready to admit he needed something to let off steam from the idiocy of his coursemates. One didn't ever show up on time for their meetings, second was lazy as shit, and the third just did everything in a manner that served to piss Kei off every five minutes or so. All in all, it just resulted in Kei's head throbbing painfully and him craving for Aspirin-induced relief.

Tetsurou had been texting him religiously about the party, of course, asking if it's okay to bring Bokuto and Akaashi along as well, and asking a lot of other useless shit as well, like what Kei's planning to wear.

Kei replied to each with scarce-worded texts of his own, straightforward and to the point with capital letters and proper punctuation in the right places, which he knew was a little off-putting for Tetsurou, the emoticon abuser.

At least Tetsurou didn't invite himself over before Friday, when Kei came to the dormitory after the frustrating group session he had with people more aggravating than Hinata and Kageyama  _put together._  Still irritated, he nearly missed the extra pair of shoes that lingered in the doorway next to Kei's slippers. He only noticed them — an obnoxious pair of Nike — after slipping his own off, and inhaled. Right, he had given the spare key to Tetsurou so they could meet up there before the party.

"Kuroo-san," he called out of habit, voice flat and dripping irritation, though for once not directed at Tetsurou.

"Ooo, Tsukki!" Tetsurou's face peeked out of one of the open doors —  _bedroom_ , Kei realized with dread. "Don't worry, I was just picking out an outfit for you for tonight. Like a good not-really bf I am." Tetsurou winked at him, long lashes fluttering against tan skin, and Kei rubbed a hand against his face. Maybe it wasn't too late to cancel his attendance.

"I don't think there's a dress code," he said instead, too weary to actually try to be angry. There were only three people he had enough energy to be viciously resentful to. "Besides, what's wrong with my current outfit?"

"Wow, you're much less snappy when you're tired," Tetsurou marveled this, a smug smile on his lips as he tugged Kei into the bedroom and to his closet. "Nothing really, but you might want to put a little bit of effort into it, regardless."

"Oh my god, we're not doing this," Kei stared up at the ceiling. "I'm not even staying at the party for that long."

"C'mon, Tsukki," Tetsurou's lips curled into a pout as he pulled a shirt out of Kei's closet. "This one at least emphasizes your eyes and skin. And collarbones. Objectively speaking, you have  _very_ nice collarbones."

Kei just sat down on his bed, staring at the black shirt with a round, wide neck that would leave the collarbone area exposed. "Fine," he just sighed as he unbuttoned his shirt. "I'll take that. Just hurry up already." Ugh, maybe he should go get that aspirin now before he forgot it in the wake of Tetsurou's closet-rummaging.

"It's a pity you don't seem to own a pair of skinny jeans, though," Tetsurou hummed thoughtfully as Kei switched shirts, golden brown eyes taking in the change in Kei once the shirt was on. Lips curled into a feline-like smirk, playful and predatory at the same time. "See, Tsukki, you look gorgeous."

"You seem to own more than necessary," Kei pointed out, glancing at the black skinny jeans hugging the older student's legs, showing off a little too much of, well, Tetsurou himself. Though, he  _has_  seen the former Nekoma's captain in shorts before, so this was nothing in comparison.

But still — showing off those legs was just  _unnecessary._  Who was Tetsurou trying to impress?

"But you have such good legs," Tetsurou pouted, shaking his head in disappointment as he closed the closet door when he didn't find any pants up to the level with what he had in mind. "Seriously." Tetsurou glanced at his own skinny jeans thoughtfully for a second. Kei sensed what was coming the moment the other's lips opened again. "Okay, wanna trade pants?"

Yeah, that was what he had expected. "No."

"Ah, figured so." Tetsurou sighed dramatically, before extending a hand to help Kei up from the small bed. "Let's get going then, babe." The leering wink that followed wasn't any less disgusting than it had been the first time Kei had seen it directed at himself, and he let Kuroo know as much.

Tetsurou just laughed and shrugged it off, shaking his head in mild amusement at Kei's prickly attitude.

.

.

.

Sugawara and Sawamura-san's apartment turned out to be a little too large for just two people to live in, but that was because their other two roommates had recently moved out after dropping out of university. Something about the pressure being too much, Sugawara told Kei sheepishly in passing, not that the younger really gave a shit. Even if he could relate to it on some level. Even though his mind was full of university-related issues.

Not at the precise moment, though, since Tetsurou was doing a stellar job at making Kei's attention focus on single entity in the room — himself, and that red and black combination that had worked so well in high school.

Or rather, Kei's attention was on Tetsurou simply because Tetsurou's was on him, and it was impossible to ignore, especially under the scrutiny of everyone present in the apartment. Sawamura had greeted them first at the door, his strongly lined face in a friendly grin as he ushered Tetsurou and Kei in while holding a can of beer in the hand not gripping the door knob.

Tetsurou had uttered something complete and utter  _bullshit_  as a greeting — it still made Kei's skin crawl — before leading Kei in by the hand, at which the blond scowled the whole time, though mostly out of principle and the fact that Tetsurou had sweaty hands.

Or maybe it was him that was sweating, because  _shit_  would he feel like a loser if their fake dating came out as… fake.

But from Tetsurou's confident way of handling things, handling  _him_ , it was easy to feel a little more at ease with the situation, even though Hinata made it all awkward again by grinning up at him — still shorter than Kei, since puberty didn't perform miracles — and waving from the staircase leasing up to the second floor, Yamaguchi's arm wrapped around his waist and the latter's nose deep in the glowing orange bush of hair.

Kei, despite being as opposed to having Tetsurou touch him as he was, clutched at the hand in his a little harder out of pure instinct, which elicited a quiet laugh from his side. A thumb ran over the back of his hand, smooth and calming. "Relax," Tetsurou seemed to try to tell him.

"Tsukki, you made it!" Yamaguchi called, his freckled face bright with a smile as he hopped down the stairs while still holding onto Hinata like a lifeline. It was irrevocably stupid and cute at the same time. And yet, Kei's lips curled into a smile. Sure, it was sarcastic, but that was the best he managed.

"I'm not staying for long," Kei said, uselessly since no one seemed to be intent on listening to him, Tetsurou least of them all. Sawamura pushed a can into his hand, a warm grin curling his lips when Tetsurou leaned over to congratulate him — anniversary or something, that's how much Kei could get from the hushed words before the whirl of hurricane by the name of Tanaka entered from the upstairs with a wobbly bounce to his steps.

He hadn't changed much, as much as Kei could tell from the way Tanaka leaped to hang onto Sawamura's shoulders, the former Karasuno captain looking more and more annoyed as Tanaka kept simpering something incoherent. "Tanaka, you can't be drunk already."

"Ha? Who's drunk? Not me, that's for sure."

Kei took a sip from his beer, resolutely ignoring Hinata and Yamaguchi who had also came down with Tanaka. Sugawara came out of the kitchen, a bucket filled with cold water and several cans of beer and cider, the arm and facial muscles tight as he carried the bucket in. "Should be enough for the time being," he murmured as he put it down, picking a can up and drying it with the hem of his shirt.

Kei wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, what he  _should_  do. Parties weren't his thing. Not even with people he probably could call something a little more than simple acquaintances. Yamaguchi was there, of course, but all wrapped up in Hinata's glow, being the sappy new couple they were, and despite the heartless reputation he knew he had, Kei didn't dare to break the spell between those two.

It didn't make him feel any less lonely, if he were honest with himself.

"Nishinoya-san and Azumane-san aren't here yet?" Kei asked, raising an eyebrow at Sugawara who just finished taking a long sip. Sawamura just got down to the couch in the middle of the living room, hand tugging Sugawara's shirt as invitation. Kei and Tetsurou had gotten themselves one of the armchairs, Kei reluctantly seated over Tetsurou's knees and thighs and with Tetsurou's arm around his waist.

It was all sorts of awkward, and it was mostly thanks to the beer that Kei could keep himself from jolting up and away from Tetsurou, whose fingers were doing this calming rubbing thing near Kei's ribs. It  _tickled_.

"That's cute," Sawamura ( _Daichi, you can just call me that now,_  he insisted while tipsy Tanaka had been clinging to him) murmured from the couch, where he had managed to get his angelic boyfriend to join him after a few tugs. Kei assumed Daichi meant him and Tetsurou, which made him both snicker and huff ( _we're not_ _ **actually**_   _dating_  hung on his lips, but he uttered no part of it). "And Asahi texted me, saying their car broke down, so they're gonna be a little late."

"Oh, that's too bad," Kei muttered insincerely, ignoring Tetsurou's "Don't be mean, Tsukki" that was whispered to his ear.

"Less beer for them," Daichi merely shrugged his shoulders. The movement was awkward with Sugawara by his side, practically glued to Daichi's side from hips upwards.

"More for the rest of us," Tetsurou agreed, sipping his own portion while shifting his knees beneath Kei's buttocks. Kei's beer-less hand clutched at the arm of the seat to keep himself upright. "Bokuto and Akaashi might drop by; I kinda told them you guys are having a party." And there it was, Tetsurou's apologetic, except not really, grin that showed white teeth and his nasty character.

 _Except it's not so nasty,_  Kei thought to himself distantly, beer tingling on his tongue bitterly as he drank more of it.

"Oh, that's alright," Sugawara piped up, his grin even brighter than Hinata's lovestruck one. "The more the merrier, or so they say." Since the couch was strategically located diagonally right from Kei and Tetsurou's armchair, Kei saw in detail the way Daichi leaned in to smack a kiss on Sugawara's cheek. Apparently  _they_  had been drinking for a while now, and it wasn't even eight yet.

"Okay, but to the point," Daichi grinned, eyes flickering to Kei and Tetsurou, whose hair tickled at the side of Kei's neck. The sensation was annoying in its repetitiveness, and Kei kept tilting his head away from it with very little success as Tetsurou kept following after him, nearly spilling both their drinks. "I'm really curious how you two happened."

"Well, that's a nice story to tell," Tetsurou began, his hand rubbing at Kei's hip absentmindedly at the same time. Affectionate, others would think and coo at the sight. Kei just wanted to push that hand away, but he didn't. "You may pass it on as a beautiful story of how I romanced our thick-headed Kei over here."

"Hey," Kei protested irritably, but Tetsurou nuzzled at his cheek and  _that_ was effective in both shutting him up and raising heat to his face. He chose to hid it by raising the can back to his lips, pale brown eyes glaring at Tetsurou all the while.

"He's so shy about it," Tetsurou lamented to the others; Daichi smirked, Suga smiled; Hinata giggled something to Yamaguchi's ear, probably a little too tipsy already, and Tanaka's laugh irritated Kei's reddened ears.

"Don't say anything outrageous," Kei muttered to him quietly, and Tetsurou squeezed at his hip.  _I know,_  the gesture seemed to say, and there was alarming gentleness to it — though he knew Tetsurou was, always, alarmingly gentle in general.

"Well, I talk like it's something grand, but," Tetsurou laughed sheepishly, the grin on his face as easy as the man himself, "it's not like I had to get on my knees and proclaim my undying love for him or anything like that." He sighed wistfully — the act was so convincing that Kei got startled. "I would do so, mind you, Tsukki," he joked, and Kei swore he could hear someone go "awww".

Well.

It would be sort of sweet if it wasn't so embarrassing at the same time — and creepy, since they weren't actually together like that.

"Anyway, it just kinda happened, y'know? Me, falling helplessly for this one on my lap, I mean." Tetsurou's voice was fond and smooth, smile audible in every syllable that left his mouth. It was nice listening to him, Kei realized, his head buzzing a little already from the booze.

"I dunno, I have been pining after him a while now," Tetsurou said when Sugawara asked how long he'd been feeling that way, shrugging but smiling like the cat his old team represented. "Man, maybe since the training camp with you guys?"

"Holy shit," Tanaka exclaimed unhelpfully. "That was  _ages_  ago."

"Yeah," Tetsurou murmured, and managed to sound sheepish despite the self-assured confidence he usually oozed. "Well, I'm a helpless guy, and Tsukki just  _got_  to me that time, haha." Tetsurou took a long sip from his beer, dropping the emptied can to the floor as he couldn't reach the coffee table with Kei on his lap.

It was the beer that made his face feel hot, Kei figured as he sipped again, still on his first can while the others were drinking their seconds, thirds or fourths by now. That must be it, and not the embarrassment that was Kuroo Tetsurou.

"That sounds just like Daichi," Sugawara sighed, just as fondly, and leaned to Daichi's side. "He didn't manage to confess before the first year at university." Daichi cleared his throat, but Kei could see the way redness crawled up his face. Daichi, too, was embarrassed.

Thank God he was not alone in this.

"You two are gross," Tanaka moaned from the floor, "gross and romantic when my girlfriend is lying sick on her bed waiting for Tanaka-san to rescue here…"

"You don't have to be here," Kei told him, tongue frustratingly heavy in his mouth.

"You're still a rude bastard, Tsukishima."

"Tsukkiiii, don't be so rude, oh my god," Tetsurou interrupted them by pressing his cheek against Kei's neck, nose briefly poking at Kei's jawline. Well, it managed to shut Kei up and stir the weird warmth that kept buzzing inside the blond. "I was just getting to the part where you agreed to go on a date with me. You know, the  _good stuff_."

"Lay off the nasty details on the sex, though," Tanaka quipped from the floor, where he now lay in a shape that distinctly reminded Kei of Patrick from Spongebob. Eugh.

"There's no sex," Kei hissed.

"Not yet," Tetsurou admitted, laughing as he pecked Kei's cheek while balancing the can in his hand. "Only when Kei wants it."

"OH MY GOD," Tanaka moaned from the floor again, and Yamaguchi laughed quietly from the other side of the room. Hinata seemed to blanch a little, but apparently the booze had gotten him too because the next moment Hinata was giggling like mad, murmuring something about "proper sex ed". What that had to do with the current topic, Kei was hesitant to ask and completely disinterested to know.

"I'm going to punch you in the face," Kei whispered to Tetsurou, voice wavering a bit as he got another beer from Sugawara, who had abandoned Daichi for a moment.  _Still acts like the team mom_ , Kei thought distantly, more focused on the breath on his neck that kept distracting him.

"With your mouth," Tetsurou whispered back, grinning again as his lips hovered over Kei's neck, breath hot against the skin and  _holy shit you are taking this pretense too far Kuroo-san._

"Are you two actually  _flirting_ there."

"Oh, Ryuu, just because your girlfriend didn't make it, you shouldn't ruin others' love lives," Suga's voice was a little too bright, little too loud, and a little too giggly.

"You make it sound like she's dead, Suga-san! While cuddling up with Daichi-san, too!"

Kei tuned the ensuing argument out, and simply focused on the bitter taste on his mouth. It wasn't actually bitter anymore — or rather, it was easier to get down his throat now. Maybe his sense of taste had gone numb.

"Kei, you shouldn't drink so fast," Tetsurou murmured, nuzzling against his cheek with affection meant to fool everyone else. Which it probably did. Magnificently. Kuroo-san… no, Tetsurou was a good actor. Good at provoking people. "You'll regret it tomorrow."

 _As if I haven't regretted the decision to come here every day this week_ , Kei wanted to say, but he couldn't. Not really, when he felt no spite at all towards the people gathered in the living room, some wrapped up in each other and Tanaka wailing on the floor about the unfairness of it all. If anything, he was smiling at the sight; a crooked tilt of lips, admittedly, but whatever.

The warmth under and behind him added to it, he supposed when Tetsurou's short laugh rumbled next to his ear, sounding a little breathless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DO YOU EVER JUST... WEEP WHILE YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR FIC AND ITS CONTINUATION... I am. Right now. Because there will be so much sap. I'm so bad at this. It's going to destroy me. Also Kuroo will forever be romantic as hell. God.
> 
> Also, the updates will be erratic at best, since I'm supposed... (SUPPOSED) to work on university things. But alas, whether I will manage that is beyond me.


	3. Crossroads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it was not as bad as it could have been; still, things happen and thoughts start running out of control.

"This is stupid," Kei muttered as he settled himself down to the floor, legs crossed and arms dropped to his lap and shoulder bumping against Tetsurou's. "Spin the bottle is so middle school."

"You're still grumpy when you're tipsy," Tanaka groaned, "okay, but why would you protest to getting free kisses? Like. Bro kisses. They can be fucking sweet."

"Ryuu, maybe you should go lie down," Suga suggested, his words accompanied with a soft hiccup. "You're swaying pretty badly."

"But Noya-san just arriveeeed, I can't just leave my bro to you sicko romantic… sickos."

In the background, Nishinoya was tearing up at this pathetically sweet moment of brotherhood, while the rest of them rolled their eyes — minus Hinata and Yamaguchi, who Kei wasn't even sure were in this world anymore if the dazed lovesick looks on their faces were anything to go by. Sickening.

Kei drank some more, this time cider. Apple was alright, he supposed, though it was too sweet; very much like the person next to him who wore a smile that just might rival Hinata's in the levels of annoying. Or no — Tetsurou was in a class of his own, Kei mulled, distantly realizing his thoughts were all over the place.

"This is really  _really_  gay," Kei grumbled to Tetsurou, who simply squeezed his hand a little too tight.

"That's what makes it so good, Tsukki," the other murmured back, lips forming a crooked smile as he watched Kei from beneath the long strands of black hair that fell magnificently over one side of his face. "S'not like you're complaining. Much."

There was absolutely nothing funny about that statement — it was accurate, anyway — but a choked snort of laughter escaped from Kei regardless, and it left his lungs quivering with the effort to breathe. "Shut up, moron," he told Tetsurou, whose grin just grew and eyes seemed a little bit softer underneath the black mess of hair that was easy to tug but probably even easier to run fingers through.

For some reason, Kei thought about one stupid joke Tetsurou had recently shown him — something about running away from gay thoughts and them not catching the person in question.

Yeah.

Go away, gay thoughts.

"Fine, whatever," he breathed out, his stomach aching from the impromptu laughter practice. He tried not to smile. He failed. Miserably so.

"Oh man, you're adorable." Tetsurou's own voice wavered a little, the words slurring when Tetsurou dragged rubbed a thumb against Kei's palm. Kei could see the flush on Tetsurou's cheeks from the corner of his eye; the way the color faded behind the black strands of the perpetual bed-hair.

"Am not," he argued, simply because he was  _not_  and never would be.

"He really isn't," Tanaka agreed with Kei, his voice even heavier from the alcohol than Kei's or Tetsurou's.

"He's my boyfriend. Of course he is adorable," Tetsurou huffed, rather childishly pouting as he brought Kei's palm to his mouth, the long fingers lying in disarray over Tetsurou's cheeks and nose. Lips pressed against the palm, warm and gentle and unbearably affectionate.

Just like the man himself, Kei mused, feeling a lump in his throat that hindered his breathing. His fingers twitched against Tetsurou's skin, thumb brushing along the side of the smile-dipped cheek. The smile on Tetsurou's lips touched his palm, and specks of gold flickered in the gaze directed at Kei.

For an unnerving moment, Kei couldn't get a word out of his mouth as he stared at the face under his hand, the one Tetsurou's lips caressed so easily and gently as though it was something precious.

"Holy shit, he's blushing," Hinata's way too loud voice broke the tension between them, and Kei's head whirled to Hinata's general direction, face red from alcohol, the last moment, and irritation. "Crap, he's looking this way! Yamaguchiiiiii…"

"Okay, okay, kids," Daichi's more than just a little amused voice cut in before Kei could say anything to Hinata  _or_  Tetsurou, who let go of Kei's hand for once. The lack of warmth from the other's hand was not disappointing in the least… because Kei felt plenty hot already with the alcohol whirling in his veins and head. "Time for some old-fashioned spin the bottle games."

DId Sawamura's smile just turn ten shades more evil, or was that just Kei's usual reservations about these shitty middle-school games no sane university student would play?

Kei shook his head, the world swaying a little bit as he did so, before shifting on the floor beside Tetsurou as the rest sat around to form a small circle while Daichi placed an old Coke bottle in the middle. Tetsurou gave a soft snort at it. "Wine bottles break easily," Daichi shrugged before spinning the bottle with a flick of his wrist.

Deities weren't nice enough for the bottle to point at Suga, who sat beside Daichi snugly connected to the other by hip. Instead, the bottle's cork stopped to point at Tanaka, who looked as though he was on a trip of his lifetime. Nishinoya burst into a fit of undignified giggles while Asahi held his hand with a particularly long-suffering expression on his face.

Hell, even Kei couldn't help the amused smile that tugged at his mouth.

Tetsurou was quite possibly dying at his side, mouth covered by hand as he tried not to die from laughing. The sound was short, muffled by Tetsurou's hand, and kind of obnoxious in its loudness.

Daichi was tipsy enough to simply shrug his shoulders, and Tanaka's stance on this whole game was, apparently, "what's little making out between friends, amirite" because Tanaka didn't seem bothered at all when Daichi leaned over for a quick kiss on the mouth. Tanaka seemed to snicker something against Daichi's lips, and the ex-captain leaned back, laughing at whatever had been said.

So it was Tanaka's turn at spinning the bottle, and, well, Kei hoped dearly he wouldn't remember  _that_  experience the following morning. There was only so much skin contact he could handle, and Tanaka's sloppy and wet kisses were not in the category of anything acceptable.

The only thing that made him not outright cringe at the experience was the hand in his and a can of strawberry cider Tetsurou passed to him and which Kei opened up immediately to rid himself of the sloppy dampness between his lips.

He ended up having to land his lips of Sugawara's next, but senpai's lips were at least soft and receptive enough; awkward as hell, but Kei could live with this experience and acknowledgment that Sawamura got to kiss lips like that every day if he so wanted. Daichi whined a bit in the sideline, but Suga smacked a wet kiss on his cheek — and the rest was too sickening to watch.

It took a while for the bottle to land on Tetsurou, and this seemed to annoy him a little bit as he boredly rubbed at Kei's hand. ("You two are  _gross_ ," Tanaka kept groaning every time his eyes landed on their hands. Each time Kei stuck a tongue out at him.) But, well, it turned out that Asahi, the ever so gentle gigant, got to kiss Tetsurou, who perked up at the chance for some action, eyes a little dim with the drunken haze all of them were wrapped up in by then.

Kei kept his focus on the taste of alcohol on his tongue and the strong, static buzzing inside his head, and the way air felt both hot and cold at the same time. He wiped his now Tetsurou-free hand in his pants, not taking the hint when Tetsurou crawled back to Kei's side with extended hand.

Pouting, his fake boyfriend spun the bottle, and, well. Maybe deities were on  _his_  side instead of everyone else's, because the bottle stopped to point at Kei out of several other as likely candidates.

"That's just unfair," Hinata grumbled, being another one of Tanaka's sloppy kisses' victims. Yamaguchi at his side just laughed, shooting Kei a "good for you" look while snuggling his own significant other, fingers laced with Hinata's.

"Got lucky, yeah," Tetsurou murmured, loud enough for others to hear, and tilted Kei's head towards him with a pair of fingers. An extremely sugary smile spread onto Tetsurou's lips as his eyes softened just enough for Kei to see and feel the difference. "My favorite pastime activity."

"You're embarrassing," Kei mumbled, not convincingly at all as his eyelids fell halfway down under the other's gaze. The heat on his face intensified as Tetsurou's thumb brushed against his cheekbone, the prelude to the kiss Tetsurou planted on his lips merely seconds later.

Kei hadn't been kissed many times before; he was off-putting for many, and he was aware of such fact.

Some of the few kisses he'd has were quick pecks courtesy of Tetsurou — fake kisses for fake dating and shit, to fool other people, but this one felt different. The approach, the lead into the kiss was fundamentally different, perhaps due to the alcohol.

The look in Tetsurou's eyes was… shit, Kei didn't have an adjective for that. He'd suck in the literature program, wouldn't he?

The thumb ran smoothly down the corner of his mouth before Tetsurou leaned in, closing the distance completely.

And it wasn't bad, it wasn't invasive or insistent — it was just Tetsurou being gentle and careful, probably out of being conscious of the falsity between them. Tetsurou's head tilted, leaned forward to press in a little more comfortable pressure, hand moving from Kai's face to the cropped blond hair, fingers threading the curls. Even without the gentle nudge from Tetsruou, Kei would have leaned into the kiss to reciprocate it, and that was what he did. Heart beating anxiously, he kissed Tetsurou back, mouth closed and breath stuttering out of his nostrils.

The slight movement seemed to delight Tetsurou quite a bit as his lips curled into a wider, contented smile before he pulled away from Kei's lips, eyelids covering his eyes halfway down.

 _Illegal, that's illegal_ , Kei thought to himself, swallowing as his lips tingled in the aftermath. Tetsurou's fingers lingered on his cheekbone a little longer — too long, even, but the concept of time was not exactly clear to any of them right now.

"Well, that was fucking disgusting to watch," Tanaka — and Nishinoya — commented, both hanging off from one another's shoulders.

"You don't have to watch, you know," Tetsurou smirked, two rows of white teeth peeking out. "Or are you into voyeurism, huh?"

"No! You're just too much of an exhibitionist!"

Kei paid hardly any attention to the ensuing bickering — Daichi made no effort to stop it, more content on murmuring something to Suga, who laughed lightly and smacked Daichi's shoulder with a shaky hand. Asahi, too, said nothing at the increasing volume of his boyfriend, and just took long sips from a bottle of vodka Kei was sure the man had brought with him.

"Kei, it's your turn," Tetsurou flicked at him, grinning stupidly. "S'fine if you aim for a repeat of the last one."

"You're obnoxious," Kei said weakly, spinning the bottle a little too harshly, the movement making him sway a little.

"Whoa there," Tetsurou's shoulder was there to support him. "Maybe you shouldn't drink anymore."

"I'm fine," Kei muttered, though a queasy feeling made his stomach bubble uncomfortably and sitting straight was much harder than previously. The feeling of not being in balance, the sensation of nearly falling, they were all from that kiss, he thought, taking a deep breath and looking who the bottle pointed at. It was not Tetsurou — something dangerously close to disappointment prickled at his mind — but Suga, and it was better than the last time, though Suga kept breaking the kiss by laughing something incomprehensible against Kei's lips.

Kei just snorted, laboriously crawling backwards once it was over; the taste of something heavier than beer on his lips, and he tentatively licked them. He swayed, the world tilted, and fell. Straight onto his face.

The carpet smelled disgustingly like alcohol. For a moment Kei entertained the thought of licking the alcohol off of there, but firm pair of hands helped him sit up before he could make that thought reality.

"Oops, you're waaaay wasted now," Tetsurou's voice seemed to come from some distance away, and other noises blurred into an annoying background buzz that ticked Kei off. Not as much as the persistent dizziness, though. "You okay there?"

Kei nodded, holding his forehead against the palm of his hand, eyes closed behind the recently prescribed glasses.

"You sure?" Tetsurou nudged at his side gently, nose poking at Kei's cheek. "You look like you're not doing so hot right now."

The game of kiss and tell kept going on around them, but Kei didn't notice that; the only thing worth noting was the warmth radiating off from the man beside him, and the way Tetsurou's fingers curled around his wrist when he pulled Kei up. "C'mon, I think you need some fresh air."

Stumbling a bit, Kei managed to stand up. Mostly thanks to Tetsurou, who switched to holding Kei by the way and draping Kei's arm over his broad shoulders before dragging the blond off. "Tsukki needs some air, so," Kei heard Tetsurou answering the questioning mumbles from the background. "See ya."

It was gratifying to feel Tetsurou stumble just as much as Kei was, and Kei let out a short laugh under his breath as they staggered towards the front door and the cold air of Tokyo.

"I'm fine," he told Tetsurou when they managed to get out, pushing at the other weakly. "You don't need to babysit me, stupid."

"You look like you're about to fall over," Tetsurou laughed, drunken affection dripping into his voice, into every syllable, and the breathlessness of the sound caught Kei off guard. Flushing, Kei brought hands over his mouth and took a breath The cold didn't register in his brain; the goosebumps rising to his skin were surely from something else.

"I'm not," Kei repeated his words from earlier, huffing into his hands and ignoring the gaze he felt burning at his skin. Tetsurou didn't always come across as an incredibly intense person, but there were occasions when he was just that — volleyball courts, training, and the random times when Tetsurou was thinking about something way too hard.

Right now? Tetsurou felt intense, his presence overwhelming and  _there._

Having never been a people person, Kei found the feeling of wanting to be around Tetsurou odd — but he had found it as odd, if not more so, with Yamaguchi, followed by the rest of the Karasuno team. Even Kageyama, in the end, had turned into a presence in his life.

Kageyama even texted him sometimes, and that was a testament to  _something_ , right?

Ugh, his thoughts were getting sidetracked. By the King, even.

Kei took another breath, his fingers closed around his mouth as the nauseating shifting inside him came to a halt slowly. He glanced at Tetsurou, whose eyes were on him — it was unnerving, really, how much Tetsurou liked to look at him, or it would have been for his high school self.

Now, it was both unnerving and…

Kei shook his head slowly, trying to clear his head from the Tetsurou-related thoughts. There had been an awful lot of those tonight.

Despite himself, he kept glancing at the man at his side, kept noting the intensity in Tetsurou's half-lidded gaze — there was something terribly wrong about it. No one was supposed to look at  _him_  like that. No one ever did, not even on the volleyball court.

Except—

(" _Nice one, Tsukki."_ )

"Tsukki?"

Kei nearly jumped out of his skin, but he managed to contain himself just in time, though he nearly tripped over his own feet in the process. God. No more alcohol for me, he thought distantly as he gripped Tetsurou for support.

"Kuroo-san," he acknowledged both the question and the hand that worked to turn his head towards Tetsurou's direction. There it was, again: the intense look in Tetsurou's eyes that threatened to swallow Kei up if he let his ever so thick walls down.

Tetsurou looked like he wanted to say something, lips parting for the words before closing again. It happened a couple of times, and the action reminded Kei so much of a fish that he snickered, lips curling into an amused but mocking smirk. "What?"

Tetsurou's hand moved to Kei's cheek, cupping it gently but trembling all the while, which led Kei to believe Tetsurou wasn't holding up so well either. The following silence, thicker than any previous silences they had ever shared together (and there were a lot), made him uneasy — Tetsurou was not  _awkward_ , anything but that, but the tension wouldn't go away.

"Kuroo-san?"  _Tetsurou?_

Tetsurou licked at his lower lip, Adam's apple slowly bobbing as he swallowed. "Tsukki, can I kiss you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments so far; they've really made me smile (almost as much as these dorks do) and made my week that much more bearable. Seriously, thank you. 
> 
> I'm not sorry for the cliffhanger. 
> 
> ...Much.


	4. Love Drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saturday morning is made of hangovers and Tetsurou's kisses.

He was thirsty.

That was the first thing he was truly conscious of when he came to on that morning, with the distant sound of water running somewhere.

The next thing was that his head felt  _horrible,_  like he had run into a truck and hit the ground head first. Even if the massive headache was discounted, Kei felt like he'd never be happy again — that's how gross he felt in his own body. The nausea nagging at his stomach only added to it.

"Ugh" was what left his mouth, and there really was nothing more accurate that he could have uttered as he made an attempt to sit up, eyes closed as he tried to find his glasses from nearby. Moving, however, turned out to be a mistake as all of his limbs decided to go  _nope_  on him, and Kei fell back down, this time to his stomach.

The weakness that emanated from deep inside him made Kei close his eyes and take a deep breath, his head buzzing with dizziness. Throat was as dry as deserts discussed in high school geography classes, and it was plain uncomfortable.

The room — the house — was silent, if the breaths he could hear around him were not counted. Someone was sleepmumbling, too; it sounded like Asahi, the glass-hearted giant as some had called him back in high school. It was still a rather accurate description, Kei thought as he took a slow breath before trying to pull himself up to his weak legs again.

This time he succeeded, though the prickling in his lower stomach warned him to either stay very still or move to the bathroom very quickly.

And he still hadn't found his glasses.

The sound of quiet footsteps from his side attracted Kei's attention, and so he squinted as he tried to recognize the person. The footsteps were quiet, but  _heavy —_ heavier than Sugawara's, probably just as heavy as Daichi's, but the blurred black above him gave it away.

"Kuroo-san," Kei said, eyes crossed as he tried to see the other's face. He tried not to flinch at his own voice, harsh and rough from the dryness in his throat, and focus on the blurry figure whose hands extended towards him.

"Tsukki," Tetsurou's voice was unmistakable, though deeper and quieter than usual — almost mellow, which was a word that didn't fit the other in the least. The blurry Tetsurou bent down slightly to his level and brought hands to Kei's face, placing glasses to Kei's nose before smiling at him wearily. "World looks a bit brighter now, eh?"

"That's not funny," Kei grumbled hoarsely. At least he could see Tetsurou clearly now; Kei always felt uncomfortable without his glasses. Mostly out of the headache that formed after a certain amount of squinting. He brushed his fingers against the frames gingerly, as though assuring himself that they really were there and his sight was back to him.

Tetsurou simply smirked at him, but that didn't hide the exhaustion on his face. "It sort of was, Tsukki," he mumbled before shaking his head. "Do you need the bathroom? You look like you're gonna be sick."

"Ugh." Kei made a face. "Help me stand up."

Tetsurou's eyes crinkled in mild amusement. "Yeah, thought so," he hummed as he pulled Kei up with him, offering support when Kei's legs wobbled. "How bad?"

"Pretty bad," Kei muttered, the feeling in his gut getting worse and more intense. "Bathroom. Now."

But go figure — that didn't happen as quickly as he would have liked, since someone else decided to enter the room a little less gracefully than Tetsurou. "Yoooooooo, Tsukki! Been a long time, huh?"

"…Bokuto-san?" Kei groaned, holding his head Tetsurou pulled him close and helped him to wobble towards the bathroom. "What're you doing here?" He couldn't remember Bokuto ever coming in last night — but there seemed to be a big, blank are in his memories, anyway. Ugh, please no… The thought of having to deal with Bokuto so early on a Saturday (or dealing with Bokuto  _at all_ ) made his nausea worse, and he nearly heaved right there and then.

Bokuto blinked owlishly.

Akaashi, who seemingly had emerged from nowhere, merely made a gesture towards a bathroom door. "Kuroo-san, he looks like he's about to vomit on you."

"Ah,  _shit_ ," Tetsurou grumbled, "hang in there, Tsukki, this is my good shirt—"

"Here's the bucket Sugawara threw up in," Bokuto offered, and Kei's first reaction was  _fuck off or I'll throw up on YOU._ He didn't voice that thought, though, and instead grabbed the side of the bucket and leaned down.

Akaashi, Bokuto, and Tetsurou all made a face at the retching sound that filled the apartment, but at least they had the decency to not comment on it when Kei was done and was left dry heaving a few times more.

Once done, Kei pushed the bucket away in disgust, the stench of vomit to much for him and his senses. "Water," he croaked, and Tetsurou lifted him up again, draping an arm around Kei's waist after slinging Kei's arm over his shoulder.

"Let's go to the kitchen so we won't wake the others up," Tetsurou hummed, and Kei only now gave a proper look around, looking for the others. Most had apparently passed out on the floor, but Sugawara and Sawamura were both on the couch, Sugawara's head on Sawamura's lap. Sawamura himself looked extremely uncomfortable, leaning over the arm of the couch.

"He stayed up to take care of Sugawara," Tetsurou explained as he dragged Kei off to the simplistic kitchen that at some point had provided for four. "Fell asleep an hour ago. Hasn't thrown up at all, thankfully — the rest kept waking up and… yeah. You know."

Once seated down and provided a glass of water — and today water was better than any delicious juice out in the supermarkets — Kei gave Tetsurou and the rest a look, now focused on the tired looks that surrounded him. His probably wasn't much better, considering the hangover that made him regret each and every one of his choices that had led up to this moment.

"You never went to sleep?" he settled for that for now, though he was mildly curious when Bokuto and Akaashi had come by.

Tetsurou nodded, his arm still around Kei's waist for no reason whatsoever. The warmth of Tetsurou's hand against his hip wasn't unwelcome… not entirely.  _Seems like it's easier now,_  Kei thought, focusing on the other's worn-out expression instead of the hand.

"Nope," Bokuto chirped in, sounding  _waaaay_  too happy at this time of day, which turned out to be around 8 am. "Kuroo, me, and Akaashi over here decided to stay up and take care of all of you drunkards!"

"…" Kei gave Bokuto an unimpressed stare. "What did you do?"

" _Rude_ ," Bokuto's lips curled into a pout, and his over-energetic nature was even  _more_  annoying than usual. "I'm not the bad guy here!"

"So, one of you  _is_ ," Kei deadpanned, sipping at the water calmly as his eyes flickered to Tetsurou, whose head was pressed against Kei's shoulder comfortably. Tetsurou gave no outward reaction, but his hand gripped Kei's hip a little harder, as if wanting the other even closer.

 _He's too into this_ , Kei thought, a vague anxiety tugging at his mind.

"It's just that it's easier for me to avoid hangovers if I don't sleep at all," Tetsurou murmured, but not without yawning in the middle. "And someone had to look after you guys; people can choke in their vomit in their sleep, you know?"

"How kind of you," Kei said, voice flat, and he felt the sigh rather than heard it as Tetsurou's head shifted on his shoulder. "Alright. But when did Bokuto-san and Akaashi-san…?"

"In time to keep you two from making out in front of the apartment," Bokuto cut in before Kei even finished the question, bouncing a little on the chair across the table. "Man, pretty sure we cockblocked you two, that's how Kuroo was looking at you."

Akaashi did what Kei would have done if he wasn't on the wrong side of the table — he elbowed Bokuto's side mercilessly. "Bokuto-san, please behave."

"Awww," Bokuto whined, "c'mon, Akaashi. You saw the situation, too!"

"You're embarrassing him," Akaashi simply said, nodding briefly at Kei's quickly reddening face.

Bokuto blinked, taking a closer look at Kei, before grinning. "Hey, it's true. Tsukki, you're not  _embarrassed_ , are you?" he teased the blond, disregarding the narrowing of Kei's honey brown eyes.

Akaashi seemed about as fed up as Kei, but he showed it more subtly by jabbing at Bokuto's side again, which earned an indignant yelp from the man. "I apologize on his behalf. Dealing with him while hungover…"

"Tsukki, just ignore him," Tetsurou mumbled at his side, yawning again. "Bokuto's still tipsy."

"Am not!" Bokuto protested. "I was just saying— Tsukki, you listening? So, Akaashi and I came by a little late, and you two were there—"

"Making out with one's significant other is considered rather normal, Bokuto-san," Akaashi interjected. "I see no merit in telling him about what he's experienced before, even if he holds no recollections of last night."

Tetsurou stiffened by his side, which went unnoticed by the bickering duo, but Kei couldn't ignore the tightened grip around his waist and the shallow breathing against his neck as Tetsurou nuzzled closer, starved for either affection or a good mattress.

Kei fought down the heat that went straight to his cheeks, tilting the glass a bit as he swallowed down the rest of the water. The events of the precious night were blurry at best — he remembered vaguely Sugawara's lips on his own, as well as Tetsurou's hand on the back of his head rubbing gentle circles — and he wasn't sure how much he wanted to remember of it all. Considering Bokuto's words, probably nothing, if he had been making out with Tetsurou.

Or almost doing that.

Whatever almost making out  _was_.

Kei just shrugged. "As long as I didn't get naked and run around Tokyo like that, it's fine." There were plenty of other mortifying possibilities, but for now he'd just… take it for what it was and leave it be. He was  _not_  going to touch the missing memories, considering the scattered ones were crazy enough what with Tanaka and everyone else teasing him and Tetsurou showing PDA so openly and spinning the bottle and… Twister? He was pretty sure there had been Twister involved at some point.

Now that he really thought about it, he  _did_  remember vaguely Bokuto's arm around himself, and Tetsurou's angry protests at something Bokuto had said.

"Well, Bokuto did that for you," Tetsurou pulled himself up to glance at Bokuto with half-lidded eyes, mild annoyance radiating off of him while the former ace of Fukurodani just laughed. Akaashi had buried his face into his hands, apparently too mortified to bring himself even say anything.

"Hey, I wasn't running in the nude, Kuroo. Don't mix up facts!"

"Bokuto-san, you're lucky we kept you from going out."

"Pft, Akaashi, you know I'd only let  _you_  admire me in—"

" _Bokuto-san_."

Kei sighed and promptly ignored the bickering trio. Pushing Tetsurou's arms off, he went to fill his glass again, feeling marginally better and more clear-headed than before despite the pounding inside his skull.

The knowledge that he had almost made out with Tetsurou — if Bokuto were to be trusted, anyway; that guy was in a league of his own kind of shady — didn't bother him, really; alcohol was a strong substance, and Kei was more susceptible to it than most people. Yamaguchi had seen him like that, and had gotten Kei to do idiotic stunts before, with no actual evil purposes behind the silliness.

Things like having heart-to-heart conversations about things that didn't matter anymore, but which had once upon a time been painful.

(Akiteru. Volleyball. Losing.)

So, almost making out with someone he had been in close contact with for a while now wasn't a big deal; if anything, it really enforced the image of him being head over heels for Tetsurou.

It was kind of funny that they could fool people so easily.

Kei turned off the water, leaning against a kitchen counter as a mild wave of dizziness reappeared. Hand trembling, he somehow managed to get a sip, one after another until his throat felt less like sandpaper.

If only he could sleep a little more, in his own bed instead of a foreign floor.

"You okay there, Tsukki?" Tetsurou's arms came back, a little higher over his abdomen than previously.

"Don't be so handsy right off the bat, Tetsu," Kei mumbled as he rubbed his eyes with a thumb and a forefinger. "It's irritating."

His voice lacked the necessary bite to drive Tetsurou away, though, and the clinging only got more intense, coupled by the warm but stinky breath near his ear.

"Tetsu, huh?"

Kei froze. Shit.  _Shit —_ he hadn't meant to call Tetsurou that. His throat swelled up, all protests cut off for once as utter speechlessness overtook him.

"Sounds good," Tetsurou smiled against the nape of Kei's neck, pressing a few kisses here and there, and Kei was sure he heard Bokuto make a few exaggerated gagging sounds on the background. Akaashi's flat reprimand followed, tinged with Akaashi's brand of affection. "Call me that again, Tsukki."

"Hell no," Kei grumbled, pushing the emptied glass away and pressed his palms firmly against the counter. Tetsurou pouted; Kei didn't have to feel the change against his skin to realize that much.

"Tsukkiiiiii…"

"I said no."

"Pretty please, Tsukki?" Tetsurou sounded a lot more awake then, fingers rubbing circles on Kei's hip — something he knew Kei liked, though he had never verbally expressed so. "I'll kiss you if you don't."

The way Tetsurou made it sound like a threat was absolutely ridiculous — "Kuroo, are you sure that's not what Tsukki is aiming for!?" — and Kei's lips twitched despite himself as he tried to suppress a laugh he knew was coming. "How very threatening,  _Tetsurou_ ," Kei enunciated clearly, a smirk pulling at his mouth as Tetsurou stiffened behind him.

"I'll really, really do it, Tsukki," Tetsurou said, voice husky as he turned Kei around and which Kei allowed him to do. Tetsurou stared at him with half-lidded, weary eyes that spoke many things and promised a few more.

 _Maybe he's still drunk,_  Kei wondered, ignoring the sickening, fluttering sensation in his chest — just another one of the hangover effects. "Tetsurou," he repeated, not even out of spite, but—  _god_ , he didn't know why he was provoking Tetsurou to kiss him. He had always liked to get under people's skin, to frustrate them, to vent his own innermost frustrations into pushing them into others, so what was  _this_ , other than utterly domestic banter?

"That does it, Tsukki," Tetsurou decided, the nickname rolling from his lips like it was the sweetest thing, and leaned closer with his stinking breath, and  _fine_  Kei was slightly grossed out, but his breath was as bad if not worse, so whatever. Eyes gleaming, Tetsurou closed the distance as he held Kei's face between his hands.

Kei hardly heard the whistling sound from the background. It was probably just Bokuto, anyway. Either that, or a tea pot whose existence Kei had somehow ignored thus far.

Kei's arm went over Tetsurou's shoulder out of sheer habit — yeah, they had  _practiced_  before, to the point where Kei was comfortable or at least used to it — and pulled the other closer as their lips moved against one another in a slow tease, Tetsurou's thumbs rubbing at Kei's cheeks with tenderness Kei hadn't expected from him when they had struck up the deal.

There had been many things he hadn't expected from this not-really relationship.

Actually learning to like Tetsurou as a person was one of them.

"Say it, Tsukki," Tetsurou murmured between kisses, lips meeting again and again to steal Kei's breath away, to make Kei bend and give into saying the nickname Kei hadn't intentionally given Tetsurou. Grunting, Kei pressed harder into the kiss, cheeks flushed as he repeated it in his head.

_Tetsu._

_Tetsu._

_Tetsu…_

Each echo of the nickname only made his face grow hotter and hotter.  _There's no way I'm saying that again to his face…_

But Tetsurou was intent on getting it out of Kei, if the insistent nip at Kei's lips said anything and if the hands gently framing his face were any indication. "Kei…" Tetsurou murmured, hoarsely, and Kei's face flushed harder, self-consciousness prickling at him when he felt Bokuto's blatant staring on them.

"Bokuto-san,  _please_ ," Akaashi murmured quietly, and soon the feeling of being stared at disappeared.

"Please," Tetsurou breathed against his lips, like a kitten starved of attention and love, "please, Tsukki."

It was totally on purpose, Kei knew it.

He  _knew_  it, and yet…

"Tetsu," he murmured, hands clenching around Tetsurou's shirt tightly.

Tetsurou's victorious grin made Kei want to punch him, but he couldn't do a thing before he was tugged in for another kiss — and despite wrinkling his nose at the faint scent of lingering alcohol, Kei returned it.

The smile that threatened to break out meant  _absolutely nothing._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They are all morons. Yes, couldn't resist adding BokuAka here.


	5. Truly, Madly, Deeply

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo realizes that he's pretty much a goner. Goddammit, Kei.

They ended up going to Kei's apartment after leaving a message for Daichi that they had taken off for hangover-friendly breakfast. Akaashi gave them a ride, being the sole (sane) completely sober person out of the four of them. The ride took a bit longer than Kei had anticipated, but that was Saturday's morning traffic for you in Tokyo.

Tetsurou was holding onto his hand, their fingers tightly knit together, but for most part he remained silent, head pressed against the car window.

Kei was alright with the silence, as it left him time to consider the events from last night while Bokuto and Akaashi on the front seats held up quiet conversation with each other. (The fact that  _Bokuto_  could be quiet and considerate was weird and made the situation surreal.) Not that it mattered much to Kei either way, since he had slung headphones over his ears and was listening to calming, gentle music no one would associate with him. It helped him relax, though.

Headache had gotten better after a while, but that didn't remove the desire to sleep for the rest of the day and do absolutely nothing productive.

They made it to Kei's apartment at quarter to ten, and by then Tetsurou looked more and more dead inside, perfectly reflecting how Kei felt as well.

Akaashi and Bokuto didn't come inside, despite Bokuto's intentions of doing so. Akaashi had simply shaken his head at Bokuro's eagerness, murmuring something to his ear. The effect was immediate — Bokuto's face fell and froze into a humorously crestfallen expression.

"But Akaashi—!"

"Bokuto-san."

That had ended with that and a sharp look from Akaashi, who apologized to Kei for all the embarrassment Bokuto had probably caused. Kei simply shrugged it off, not really caring at this point when his comfortable bed was within short walking distance. Tetsurou had grown more quiet, yawns escaping his mouth as he waited for Kei.

"Ugh, finally," Kei muttered when the other two had left, not minding Tetsurou's hand around his waist as he dug out the keys. "I think Bokuto-san renewed my headache."

"He tends to do that," Tetsurou laughed as Kei unlocked the door. "On another topic, you really don't mind me crashing your place for a bit?"

"That's okay with me," Kei shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "I doubt you'd be able to sleep with Bokuto-san around, anyway."

Tetsurou grinned at him, charming even in weariness. "True that." Tetsurou's eyelids slid down lower as he regarded Kei a little longer before Kei ushered him in impatiently. "God, I'm tired."

"You look like hell," Kei admitted, closing the door before kicking his shoes off his feet. "I don't have any spare futons, though, so…"

"Are you kicking me to couch, Tsukki?" The sulky pout on Tetsurou's face was irritating and ridiculous and completely disarming. "That's  _cold._ "

"I was not going to say that, idiot," Kei frowned at Tetsurou as he led them through the small apartment. "I'm gonna take the couch; you can have the bed, Tetsu."

_Ah, crap, I said it again._

The way Tetsurou's whole demeanor lit up at just one word, one slip of tongue, was almost indescribable. The previous weariness seemed to subside as Tetsurou lunged at Kei again, arms pulling Kei closer, and the hurried action made both of them stumble over the carpet. "Hey!" Kei huffed indignantly, heart skipping a beat of the sheer fright the sudden attack had given him.

"Ah, sorry, sorry," Tetsurou laughed, nose poking at Kei's cheek as they somewhat clumsily moved towards the bedroom. "I can't help myself when you call me that, really. It took me, what, over five years to earn a nickname from you?"

"That's because we didn't keep in touch most of that time," Kei grumbled, but made an effort to lead them forward without disentangling Tetsurou off of him. It was too troublesome to try with someone as touchy as him, anyway. "If it makes you this clingy every time, I'll stop." The brief exchange in Suga and Sawamura's kitchen still made the nape of his neck heat up as he recalled it.

Tetsurou's melodramatic and overly acted gasp somehow didn't annoy Kei, but instead made him smile. "Tsukki, you meanie! Must I repeat what I did back there? I'll seriously repeat it if I have to."

 _Not like he had any real issues kissing me in the first place,_ Kei thought and refrained from touching his lips.  _Not that I have any, either. Huh._

"And anyway," Tetsurou continued before Kei had any chance to reply, "I won't steal your bed, Tsukki. That's not fair."

"What are you talking about? You're  _exhausted_ , staying up last night to look after us drunk idiots—"

"Tsukki slept the whole night on the floor, that must have been uncomfortable—"

Kei actually agreed with that, but… "What are you suggesting, then? That we sleep together?" he asked, irritation lacing his voice as he glanced at Tetsurou and his smug face.

"You said it, not me," Tetsurou hummed cheerfully as he let go of Kei and tugged him along before Kei could leave his side. "C'mon, Kei," he teased when Kei remained obstinate. "Surely you used to share a bed with a friend or two when you were kids? This isn't any different."

"As long as you don't pee on my bed," Kei grudgingly said. It was a logical suggestion, anyway; his back was sore and joints stiff, and Tetsurou hadn't slept at all as he had kept watch over all of them, taking responsibility when no one else could.

"Kenma can testify that I have been properly potty trained."

"Gross."

Kei sighed and opened the door leading to the bedroom, shaking his head. "Sorry for the mess, really." Not that he should feel self-conscious about it at this point — Tetsurou had already seen his apartment at its messiest, though it was hardly comparable to the pigsty that was Tetsurou's apartment that he shared with Bokuto and Akaashi.

"No worries," Tetsurou hummed and hopped over to the bed in two jumps. Once settled into the bed, Tetsurou turned to his side and glanced at Kei in a way he probably thought to be playfully seductive. With half-lidded eyes, messed up hair, and slow smile, it probably was just that, but Kei promptly ignored it. "Leap into my arms, Tsukki~!"

Tetsurou was  _so_ stupid.

"I don't understand why I like you," Kei heaved out a heavy sigh as he took off his shirt and threw it over to the desk. "You're such a moron." He was too tired for this, as the following yawn attested, and so he quietly climbed to the bed and turned his back to Tetsurou in a feeble attempt to hide the sliver of embarrassment that showed on his face.

"It's my charm, of course," Tetsurou murmured sleepily as he wrapped his arms around Kei's abdomen, the hold tight but surprisingly gentle — as was Tetsurou.

 _Stop that,_ Kei admonished himself as he settled himself comfortably against Tetsurou. " _What_  charm?"

"Wow, you're really prickly when you're tired."

"I'm always prickly."

"No," Tetsurou's lips brushed at his neck, affectionate as he was, "you're not."

 _Stop that,_ he told Tetsurou in his head,  _stop that._  The words never left his mouth, and they fell into comfortable silence to which they both fell asleep soon afterward, with Tetsurou holding Kei in his arms and Kei leaning slightly back against the warm chest.

If asked, Kei would say that Tetsu was only slightly more comfortable than the floor.

What he really thought, well… that was another thing entirely.

.

.

.

Kuroo Tetsurou had woken up in various situations before, but this was the first time he was lucky enough to wake up with his arms full of his blond friend slash boyfriend. Well, fake boyfriend. It was kind of complicated. To most people it would be, anyway.

It was late afternoon when he woke up, if he had to hazard a guess, but that didn't particularly matter. All that mattered right then was the person sharing the bed with him and the soft breaths Tetsurou heard coming from him.

It was a nice way to wake up. Wonderful, even; there was nothing even remotely close to sarcasm in that remark, and Tetsurou smiled a little at himself and his "stupidity" as Kei probably would call it while trying to fight down the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Not in an immediate hurry to leave his current situation, Tetsurou carefully nuzzled his nose at the back of Kei's head, diving into the short curls of blond hair. Kei wasn't, unexpectedly, a light sleeper; Tetsurou had kind of assumed he would be, based on how cranky Kei was in the mornings and his temper in general. There went that theory.

But it was nice that Kei was still in his hold when he woke up. Kei hadn't squirmed away from his reach. Kei hadn't even elbowed him in his sleep, if the lack of abdominal pain was anything to go by.

 _Argh, stop doing this to yourself, Tetsurou,_ he chastised himself as he took a deep breath of Kei's scent. It was calming, as it had been the first time he had gotten close with Kei too. Refreshing like the scent of sea, calming like the scent of leaves in the fall.

 _Well then, buddy,_  Tetsurou smiled half-heartedly at himself,  _seems like your inner poet came back full-swing._

It wasn't like he could help himself much, really.

After getting to know Kei this well in the duration of their relationship, there was no saving Tetsurou from the heart-racing effects Kei had on him. Their friendship was easy, it was natural; it was  _fun._  Their relationship was just a continuation of that, with Tetsurou's affectionate side bubbling up to the surface with no restrictions, though now Tetsurou just didn't bother filtering that side of himself anymore.

Kei hadn't told him to stop, either.

Kei had gone as far as to call him  _Tetsu_ while smiling that little smile that was so very endearing. (And  _god_  if he had ever thought he'd find Tsukki endearing… except that he sort of always had in a certain sadistic coach way, back in the good ol' volleyball days.)

Tetsurou felt his face flush in its entirety at the memory of the earlier, of the kisses he had insistently placed on Kei's lips, of Kei's hands on his shirt.

 _Tetsu_ , he had called Tetsurou when they had come to Kei's apartment too, looking tired and like a truck had run him over, but Tetsurou knew he hadn't looked any better himself with no sleep on him.

But what mattered was that nickname, the easy, comfortable manner it had slipped out of Kei's mouth that spouted outrageous things but unexpectedly gentle stuff as well.

Tetsurou smiled against Kei's hair, his stomach flipping weakly as his face continued to heat up from the Kei-centered thoughts and memories. Fingers twitching against the fabric of Kei's top, Tetsurou closed his eyes again. Wearing his jersey from the night before, he felt a little suffocating, but he didn't want to let go of Kei just yet.

Just a little bit more, he wanted to cuddle— err, hug the sleeping man before him — while affectionately mouthing stupid things against Kei's skin. Things such as  _thank you for putting up with my ideas_  and

Anxious, he wondered just how much of this was actually alright with Kei and if the other hadn't just succumbed to it just because Tetsurou was insistent.

Thinking back on the way Kei's hand fit his perfectly, Tetsurou knew he had very little to worry about — Kei didn't do things he didn't want to, unless extremely drunk, but seeing how sobered up Kei had allowed several kisses to pass with a smile and overall welcoming attitude, Tetsurou was in clear waters.

He  _knew_  Kei at least liked him well enough to accept his presence without a complaint. Liked him well enough to quit shaking him off when Tetsurou showed affection to him;  _that_  was a big deal, actually, or maybe that was the outcome of Kei maturing and growing and letting people in.

Tetsurou sighed. God, he wanted to kiss Tsukki.

It wasn't a new urge, not particularly — these days, he had found himself wanting that more and more. Little by little, he had got to do just that. On their not-dates, on their not-really double dates, and the previous night and this morning.

"Tsukki," he mumbled as he lowered his head down to Kei's shoulder. The name fell heavily from his lips, pregnant with all the feelings Kei burdened him with. "Tsukki."

"Hmmm?"

_Fuck!_

Kei's head turned a little bit, long eyelashes fluttering against pale skin as the honey-like eyes came to Tetsurou's view slowly. "Tetsurou?" The sleep-heavy utterance of his name made Tetsurou's heart do a dangerous backflip that would normally end very dangerously and in broken bones if he tried that himself.

"Oops," he chuckled, despite the dark flush he just knew was still on his face, "I didn't mean to wake you up, Kei."

Kei's eyes fluttered, not entirely focused, and  _damn it Tsukki how dare you be so cute when waking up._  "S'okay," Kei's voice was hoarse from sleep rather than alcohol this time, "slept long enough, I think."

Tetsurou's hold around Kei tightened by a fraction.  _No, I want to hold you a little longer._ The urge was strong: it was closer to a need than anything less.

"Stay a little while longer, Tsukki?" Tetsurou ignored the weakness in his voice. In his heart. Weakness that he had for the person he hadn't expected to grow on him to the extent of offering to fool everyone with fake dates that seemed less and less fake the more they did them.

"Hmphm," was Kei's not very coherent response as he turned around as Tetsurou loosened his hold, only to tighten it again when Kei hadn't left and just stayed there, now face-to-face with Tetsurou. Eyelids half open, Kei just watched him for a while without saying a word, and Tetsurou knew for sure his entire face must have resembled his old jersey's color by then.

Oh, the state Kei reduced him to without putting an effort into it.

( _What if he is, though. What if he does…_ )

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tetsurou teased the other to break the silence. It'd be awkward if Kei were to hear the rapid, anxious beats of his heart. As impossible as that was, Tetsurou just needed to distract himself from  _that face._  From the sleepy, not entirely coherent expression that held no irritation or contempt whatsoever — if anything, there was a little bit of what Tetsurou hoped to be satisfaction.

"It was 'okay'," Kei muttered, and there it was, the lovely tinge of red just barely touching Kei's cheekbones, faint and pale on the skin. "Don't laugh," Kei added grumpily when Tetsurou's lips curled up into a grin Kei would undoubtedly describe as devilish.

"I would never laugh at you, Kei," he said with all the seriousness he could muster, but it was difficult with the burst of giddiness that tingled the insides of his chest.

Seriously, how could Kei  _not_  see what he was doing to Tetsurou?

It  _must_  be on purpose, or else some higher power just loved to tease him.

Knowing his luck with feelings in general, Tetsurou pushed that thought aside and kept on grinning at Kei's look of sheer annoyance, mixed with something that Tetsurou wasn't sure how to interpret.

"Never," Tetsurou repeated in a low purr, and that made Kei snicker, eyes crinkling with his mirth.

"You still sound like a cat."

"Can't get rid of that so easily," Tetsurou agreed.  _I want to kiss you. Really badly. Should I. Would you mind?_

"And yet you live with the  _owls._ "

"A cat needs something to eat, yeah?"

"That sounds absolutely disgusting." Kei's lips curled into a tired smirk. "Your hair is even worse than usual, Tetsu."

The things that Tsukishima Kei did to his heart… For one moment, Tetsurou's breath halted and his brain might have short-circuited from the flood of feelings in his ssytem.

Oh, crap.

He was… in  _really_  fucking deep.

"Hey, now," Tetsurou managed to pout and make a face at Kei for those words, "it's easy for you to say with such short hair." To make a point, he ran his fingers through the blond hair, trying not to stop to rub at the back of Kei's head like he wanted to.

"Doesn't change the fact it looks really goofy," Kei deadpanned as he switched his position a little, wincing as he stretched his arms, afterward settling them over Kei's shoulder for the lack of better place.

"Did you just use the word  _goofy_?" Tetsurou smirked. "Really, Kei."

Kei slapped at his shoulder gently. "Oh, shut up."

Later on — perhaps an hour or two from then, Tetsurou's sense of time really couldn't tell at this point — Tetsurou quickly texted Kenma, his trustworthy and undoubtedly best friend. The friend that was in on the secret no one else knew.

_send help kenma i think im in love_

Not paying attention to the lack of capital letter (when did he ever), Tetsurou sent it, hands and heart trembling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DO YOU EVER JUST GET INSPIRED BY LOVELY COMMENTS AND THE OTP AND JUST... WRITE... 
> 
> Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" sums Kuroo up in this chapter, probably. (lies down and cries)
> 
> I fucked up, I fucked up, why did I surrender to this ship.


	6. Every Moment with You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're amazing, Kei."

"Kuro, you're hopeless."

Kenma had always been blunt, but hearing this statement without anything to soften it made Tetsurou grimace. Not because it was hurtful, but because it was as accurate as Kenma's tosses had been and still were.

"I know that without you saying it," he grumbled as he ran a hand through his messy hair, fingers entangling with the knots. Absent-mindedly, he tried to untangle them, ending up tugging too hard. "I told you I needed help."

Kenma didn't look up from the 3DS he held between his hands, fingers moving effortlessly easily over the console. "Naturally you go to an aromantic person for help. Makes sense," Kenma mumbled, sarcasm dripping into his voice, and Tetsurou sighed.

"You're the only one that knows, Kenma," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "and you're smart, so it makes perfect sense."

Kenma sighed, brow wrinkling in dissatisfaction as he turned the console off. "You got yourself into the situation by suggesting the fake dating scheme, Kuro," Kenma raised his head to meet Tetsurou's gaze, eyes blank and unimpressed yet sympathetic at the same time. "Why?"

Tetsurou dragged a hand down his face as he contemplated his answer. "I dunno, really; it seemed like a good idea at the time, you know? Tsukki said the comments from his friends kept bothering him, and the attempts at setting him up with someone…" The thought of Kei on a date with a complete stranger had bothered him then, too, but now it was just unbearable.

Argh.

Kenma's lips twitched into a small smile, and Tetsurou just  _knew_  he was barely resisting the urge to tease Tetsurou about Kei. "So, it was all for his sake?"

"Hey, I'm always kind and helpful," he retorted back, at which Kenma just rolled his eyes, the smile now wider on his lips. "Why does everyone always assume the worst of me?"

"Just kidding," Kenma said dismissively. "It's very obvious you care for him."

"Yeah," Tetsurou agreed, thinking about Kei not for the first time during his heart-to-heart with Kenma. The coffee he had bought for himself was starting to cool down, but he was too distracted to pay mind to that. The realization from the previous day was still on his mind, an insistent and constant thought in the back of his head even if he tried to leave it be. "I mean… uh, it's a little more than caring just now. I didn't know as much about Tsukki back then as I do now, and just…" Tetsurou's stomach made a fluttering somersault, and thank  _god_  he hadn't been drinking on Saturday as he usually might.

Burying his face into arms as he slumped against the café's table, Tetsurou mumbled, "He's just so endearing, I can't stand it."

Kenma blinked slowly at his lifelong friend's reaction. Seeing Kuroo so riled up was unusual. Not new, but definitely unusual. "Kuro…" Kenma fell into a brief silence as he considered his options at cheering Kuroo up. "Have you considered buying him the shirt that says 'rawr means  _I love you_  in dinosaur language'?"

The effect was the same as he had hoped for — Kuroo's face rose from the table, lips twitched between a smile and a look of astonishment, and then Kuroo laughed until he couldn't breathe, leaving him a shaky mess. "Kenma, oh my god, that's brilliant."

"I was joking," Kenma deadpanned.  _Please don't embarrass yourself, Kuro._

Kuroo finally managed to breathe again without wheezing and sounding like he was choking on a piece of Lego. It took about twenty seconds or half a minute. "Yeah, yeah, I know," Tetsurou smiled at his friend, feeling a little calmer now that the butterflies in his stomach had flown elsewhere. "But I kinda wanna do that."

"Don't," Kenma said flatly, fingers slowly inching towards the 3DS again.

"Geesh, fine," Tetsurou huffed as he leaned back and finally took a sip from his coffee. "I just… Tsukki called me 'Tetsu', you know?" He took a breath before drinking again. The scent of coffee was somewhat relaxing. "It wasn't on purpose, either."

"You always did like nicknames," Kenma murmured as he munched on his sandwich, eyes regarding Tetsurou with muted interest.

"Yeah," Tetsurou hummed, "but it was more about the way Tsukki said it. It was affectionate — well, by his standards anyway, I guess — and just… it felt like we've gotten somewhere we didn't intend to in the start." Tetsurou took a deep breath, releasing it heavily as his lips curled upwards. "Man, I can't win this. Tsukki totally got me without even trying."

Kenma shrugged nonchalantly. He had known Kuro for a long, long time, and the smile on Tetsurou's face… Yeah. Kenma was sure he hadn't seen that kind of whole-hearted giddiness in Kuro since high school and nationals.

"You really love him," he said, tone edging close to genuine amazement as he tilted his head and inspected the flush tinging Kuro's cheeks. That was new, too, though he was aware Kuro wasn't the suave person everyone else made him out to be.

The way Kuro's face turned darker was certainly gratifying, considering all the embarrassing things he had put Kenma through during the years of their friendship, but at the same time he felt a little sorry for him.

"L-love, huh," Tetsurou muttered, running a hand through his hair and trying to look nonchalant. "I dunno about going that far."

"Kuro, you literally texted me yesterday and said you think that you're in love." Kenma stared at him evenly, noting the changes in Kuro's face as his expression went from nonchalant to sheepish. "You don't use the word lightly." Kenma didn't mention the hour-long conversation they had held later following that text. It had been mostly Kuro rambling about what had happened, about Tsukishima, about the things that made Kuro's chest fill up with too much emotion.

"Ah," Kuro's face resembled their old Nekoma team jerseys in color, or the tomatoes Kenma had in his fridge. "You caught me, huh." Kuro hung his head low, taking a few anxious breaths before meeting Kenma's gaze again.

 _He's really stressing over this,_  Kenma marveled. Maybe he should just have invited Kuro over; Kuro looked like he needed some of the chocolate ice cream Kenma had in store for bad days. "I dunno about romantic love much, but you seem to be overreacting a little, Kuro…"

"Yeah, I guess," Kuro's nonchalant answer was anything but nonchalant. "It's just… it'd be stupid to claim to be afraid of how this changes our relationship — it really doesn't — but, just… I don't want to do anything Tsukki's uncomfortable with."

Kenma stared blankly back at Kuro's face. "Has he expressed that you or your affections are unwelcome?"

"No," Kuro said quickly, his face brightening as his mind obviously went back to whatever happened between him and Tsukishima. "He let me cuddle him in his sleep."

"See? If he lets you do all that, you have nothing to worry about." Kenma didn't say that even if it was fake dating, allowing that much to happen when no one else was around held its own implications about Tsukishima's own feelings. "Besides, if it makes you uncomfortable… having those feelings when you're just kind of pretending to date, maybe you should call it off. Or ask him out on a real date."

"Ah," Kuro's eyes lit up at the last suggestion, and a strange sort of expectancy mixed with hopefulness glimmered in his eyes, before Kuro deflated. "No, I'll just… I'll just wait a little bit more." Kuro smiled to himself, the kind Kenma hadn't seen too often. The giddy, nervous one.

_Ah, so that's what such a feeling does to a person, even Kuro…._

"Kuro," Kenma said softly after finishing the sandwich and ordering a frapuccino, "when you're with him, you're having lots of fun, right?"

Kuro's smile turned brighter. "More than I thought I could have with him."

"That's good," Kenma murmured, allowing a brief spike of happiness well up inside himself. "I'm happy for you."

He thought back to high school and to the training camp with Karasuno; he remembred, if only distantly, once passing the third gymnasium and disinterestedly glancing in there. There had been other players aside from the two, but Tsukishima and Kuro had left the strongest impression on him back then, even with Shouyo's loud voice and Haiba's half-dead figure somewhere in the corner and Bokuto's rambunctious laughter and declarations of war.

Kuro had his arms wrapped over Tsukishima's shoulder, Tsukishima making a face at the contact as Kuro just laughed, loud and happy and happy like he was when something outstanding happened.

Maybe it was his way of making Tsukishima feel welcomed to their training sessions or something.

Either way, Kuro had had fun, and even Tsukishima had to suppress a genuine smile from emerging — enjoyment from volleyball, back then, seemed to have been somewhat of a taboo for the blond.

But, regardless, back then Kenma had been sure he had heard Tsukishima wheezing in attempt to keep his laughter in, whether it was at Kuro's silliness or the volleyball practice itself.

It was rather heartwarming, Kenma now mused as he smiled at his friend, who grinned back at him.

He really liked Tsukishima to that extent, huh.

_You deserve a lot of good stuff, Kuro._

.

.

.

Saturday had gone by in the wink of an eye, if only because he had slept through most of it, and afterwards spending useless time with Tetsurou. He really should have worked on his papers and homework, but on Sunday afternoon Kei still couldn't bring himself to care about the time he had wasted away on Friday and Saturday.

Tetsurou was an overly affectionate person with grins bright enough to blind people, coupled with an attitude that drew people in.

And, fuck, did Kei need that attitude around him right now.

Burying his face into his arms, Kei sighed. Just… he knew the worth of hard work now, knew that it didn't enable to immediate success but later on it would pay off. Regardless of all that, he really didn't want to spend his Sunday on this stupid project or the other assignments that pressured him.

Against his better judgment, he just wanted to—

 _What the hell, Kei,_  he wondered as he cut the thought off, absentmindedly grabbing his phone from the desk he had been lying his head against a moment ago. As if the time they had spent together this weekend already wasn't enough…

He took a photo of his face, conjuring up his most bored expression, and snapchatted it to Tetsurou —  _pls save me from homework._

He didn't even use Snapchat that much; he just checked the snaps he got from Yamaguchi (which more or less included Hinata these days in one way or another) and Tetsurou. Bokuto's snaps he checked, but they left him utterly unimpressed or made him roll his eyes at the ceiling.  _Goddammit, Bokuto_  was pretty much what Tetsurou too kept saying — the difference was that Tetsurou grinned foxily when he said that, already plotting something to outdo whatever Bokuto had done.

His phone buzzed not too long afterward, and Kei lazily went to open the snap Tetsurou had sent him in return.

Tetsurou's face greeted him, the front fringe messy and falling over his eye as usual, and lips formed a playful grin.  _I'm on my way_ , the text over Tetsurou's forehead stated, and Kei found himself smiling and feeling considerably better knowing that Tetsuru was going to come despite them already having spent so much time together.

 _Maybe I should have asked Yamaguchi instead,_  he pondered, feeling ridiculously guilty that Tetsurou had been the first person to come to his mind. With Yamaguchi, he probably would have pushed through the assignments, but with Tetsurou…

With Tetsurou, he'd probably end up doing anything  _but_  studying…

But that was alright, he decided as he put the phone down again. The assignments could wait a little more… a little more…

"Pathetic," he sighed at himself as he closed his laptop.

He just wanted a little more unpretended time with Tetsurou. Something genuine instead of what he deemed to be Tetsurou forcing himself to deal with Kei. Something like Saturday when he had woken up to Tetsurou still holding onto him.

_Just what the fuck are you thinking, Kei._

He glanced at the digital numbers on his phone once, impatience running high inside his head while he also wondered what they could do. He didn't have a big movie collection, and he knew Tetsurou was fond of comedies and sometimes outright stupidly executed actions films. None which Kei had, to be honest; the closest was probably Jurassic Park, but…

Kei's mouth twitched. Just how much would Tetsurou laugh if he suggested watching a dinosaur movie?

It was bad enough that Tetsu had seen his sheets and pillow case on Saturday, though he had hardly seemed to pay attention to that… For whatever reason, Tetsu's… Tetsurou's attention had been on Kei the whole time, as though Tetsurou was an overeager puppy waiting to be petted.

Which was odd, since Kei had always likened him to be more like a cat, independent and headstrong.

As if on cue, he heard the distant sound of the doorbell ringing, and Kei shot up from the chair, hands adjusting the collar of his shirt ( _what am I doing,_  he wondered irritably) before speedwalking to open the door for Tetsu.

There it was again, that nickname.

Kei opened the door, and his senses were assaulted by the scent of warm pizza. "Oh god yes," he said without thinking as he glanced at the box of pizza Tetsurou held in his hand before lifting his gaze to meet Tetsurou's half-lidded eyes that crinkled with mirth.

"Well, that was enthusiastic," Tetsurou laughed, lips up in a teasing grin. "You wanted me around that badly, huh?"

"I meant the pizza, moron," Kei huffed, but his irritation from just moments ago seemed to soothe out a little bit. "Who would want—" He couldn't actually get the words out from his throat, so he shrugged his shoulders and stepped aside to let Tetsurou in.

 _Who would want you around_ was what he had meant to say, but it was difficult to get them out when inside his head, he knew.  _You do. You want him around._

"I got the pizza for myself, but eh, since you called me up," Tetsurou hummed, smiling a little smile, one corner of his mouth higher than the other. "Wanna share with me, Tsukki?"

"Sure." Kei fidgeted with his fingers for a moment as he led them to the couch before the television. "You wanna watch a movie?"

He was so awful at this, Kei realized as he entwined his fingers and tugged at them uneasily. He hardly ever called anyone over; Tetsu usually just invited himself over.

Tetsurou grinned at him, and it was encouraging as always. "I'd love to."

Kei could have sighed in relief, although he wasn't entirely sure why, asides from the awkward, self-conscious feeling that made its way up his stomach.  _Stop that,_ he told himself as he went to check out his DVDs. Jurassic Park, Star Wars… some animated dinosaur movies….

Meanwhile Tetsu settled down on the couch, the box of pizza resting on his lap as Tetsurou's eyes followed Kei. "Jurassic Park's fine with me, you know! No need to think hard about it, Tsukki."

 _Damn, he KNOWS._  "What makes you think I have that on DVD?"

"Tsukki, I have seen your DVD collection before. And I have the advantage of knowing you and your obsessions."

"It's not an obsession!" Kei retorted, embarrassed as he took the original Star Wars trilogy with him. "It's just… a hobby that never went away."

Tetsurou's laughter wasn't gleeful, and rather than embarrass Kei, it did the exact opposite. Somehow, the sound put him more at ease, and the anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach went away. It was magic Tetsu was the best at, he supposed as his lips curved up fondly.

It was exceedingly difficult to wipe that expression away when he went to put the disk into the DVD player.

"Ah, Tsukki, I said I didn't mind Jurassic Park?"

"In the mood for intergalactic adventures instead," Kei deadpanned at Tetsurou, who scooted off to make Kei room on the couch once the movie started rolling.

"Besides," Kei added, clearing his throat awkwardly as he plopped down next to Tetsu and the pizza, "I intend to watch the whole trilogy."

"Oho?" Tetsurou sounded pleased, if not outright smug, and  _god dammit Kei why did you have to tell him that, now he thinks you want him to stay with you._

_Which you actually really do want._

_Go figure._

"You don't have to be so discreet about it, Kei," Tetsurou hummed, slipping in the first name in a tone that should be illegal for the things it did to Kei's pulse. "Just say you want me to stay, and I'll stay as long as you want me to." He was looking at Kei, one arm over the back of the couch and the other resting over the half-open pizza box. The look on his face was muted, not outrageously smug but a rather gentle one. Hopeful, maybe, with the usual amount of teasing.

"Shut up," Kei rolled his eyes, though the words he really wanted to say were right behind his lips, ready to roll out if he let them. "Don't be so egotistic." Despite that, he didn't turn his attention to the movie, and simply kept staring at Tetsurou, who in turn didn't tear his gaze off Kei.

"You're unexpectedly shy," Tetsurou hummed, eyes flickering down from Kei's and onto something else entirely, "considering what we do out in public."

As if on cue, Kei's thoughts trailed back to the previous day and its morning. "In my defense, I was hungover." Not that he actually minded the kisses at all. Tetsu knew that too, if that devilishly smug grin said anything. (And it did - it said so many things Kei had trouble following each message.)

"So, you'd mind it if I tried right now? Right this instant?" Tetsurou's smile widened, but Kei thought he saw a flicker of worry in the eyes that followed Kei much more closely than the movie playing in the background.

_Oh, right. The movie._

"Ah."

_No, I wouldn't mind, actually._

"Don't drop the pizza," he muttered, glancing down at the box on Tetsurou's lap, trying to will away the heat he felt on his face and neck.

"Does that mean I can?" Tetsurou's hand next to Kei's twitched, fingers curling and uncurling. Curious, Kei lifted his gaze back to the face he knew so well. Tetsurou's lips were still in a smile, but his eyes shone with intensity Kei hadn't seen all that much. It made his stomach flip in nausea, which wasn't  _entirely_  nausea, just…

 _You don't make sense,_ he scolded himself, mentally shaking his head at his own stupidity.

"Sure," he feigned disinterest, but in reality his heart had sped up into a gallop the moment Kei had seen the look on Tetsu's face. Er, Tetsurou's — ah, whatever. "Go right ahead."

Setting the box down, Tetsurou hummed happily — what was that song? — before leaning in really close, hand cupping Kei's flushed cheek, but at least Kei wasn't the only one blushing. Tetsu, too, but it seemed to be a giddy kind of blushing rather than nervous one.

Their noses nearly bumped against each other, but neither noticed that as they looked at each other silently, their breaths mingling in the space between their mouths.

Then Tetsu's eyes softened, his lips rising into a smile that Kei could only describe as gentle.

Had anyone looked at Kei like that before?

He couldn't remember right then. Maybe his mother, maybe Yamaguchi, maybe Akiteru… but this was  _different._  Not fundamentally so, but it was.

Tetsu's fingers were warm against his cheek, keeping Kei's face in place when Tetsu closed the distance after what seemed like an eternity of intense gazing into Kei's eyes.

Unlike the other times, it was this one that took Kei's breath away. Maybe because of the nervousness that came from the need of having Tetsu close. This one made his defenses crumble, just like the kisses on early Saturday morning when Tetsurou had teased him and he had knowingly led Tetsurou into pecking his lips again and again.

Tetsurou smiled against his lips, and Kei couldn't stop himself from smiling back into the kiss, his hands moving to grip Tetsurou's shoulders as he adjusted his position on the couch to give them both a better angle.

Eyes closed, Kei became much more aware of the rapid beats of his heart and the clamminess of his hands, but also of the curve of Tetsu's mouth and the hand sliding down to the side of Kei's neck, thumb lightly running over his pulse point.

This was definitely good for Kei's heart, or any other part of him for that matter.

The myriad of things happening both inside himself and outside were almost overwhelming, which led to Kei gasping Tetsu's name against the mouth that coaxed him into another kiss.

Tetsurou's hand on his neck trembled, perhaps from the lack of oxygen that was becoming more obvious with each prolonged moment.

Kei was the one to pull away out of the need for air. Taking a moment to compose himself, he kept his eyes shut and listened to Tetsu's heavy breaths, feeling the trembling in Tetsu's shoulders he still gripped.

When he eventually opened his eyes, Tetsu was already looking at him, lips forming a giddy smile as he tried to suppress a laugh.

"What," Kei muttered, somewhat embarrassed under the heat of Tetsu's gaze.

"Amazing," Tetsu just said, hand moving up to Kei's hair as he pulled Kei close again. Instead of their lips, it was their foreheads that met in an awkward bump. "You're amazing, Kei."

 _No, I'm not,_  Kei wanted to say. He wanted to argue with that sentiment, he really did, but the way Tetsu looked at him, with a hint of marvel and adoration, accepted no counter-arguments.

And, truth be told, he was too taken by that expression to even try.

"The pizza's getting cold," was all he could manage, voice weak and breathless as Tetsu's words rang in his ears.

_You're amazing, Kei._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept taking breaks when I wrote the kissing scene... I just... I'm so bad at them, and this one just... goddammit, you nerds.


	7. We've Got a Lot to Learn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those three words, he wished he could say them out loud.

The way they had progressed from acquaintances to friends to close friends to fake dating was a whirlwind of growing pains and hesitant laughter and realizations that he didn't have to try to be a better person for Tetsu's sake. To be able to be himself without the feeling that his person was always being judged was great. Tetsu took him for who he was.

He'd never voice it aloud, but Kei was thankful for that easiness that had settled between them at some point after meeting up again in university.

He was thankful that even when Yamaguchi had became practically entangled with Hinata, Tetsu was still there to lend a shoulder for Kei to lean on.

It wasn't lonely.

The pressure inside his chest that came from both excruciating amount of schoolwork and the awkwardness from having to deal with Yamaguchi and Hinata's honeymoon phase of their relationship… Tetsu relieved some of it. Bokuto and Akaashi did too a little bit when Kei dropped by their place. Akaashi was as collected as he had been in high school, and not any less strict with Bokuto despite sharing an intimate relationship with.

Sometimes he watched them from the corner of his eye, and saw Akaashi smile at Bokuto in a way that was awfully close to the Yamaguchi looked like when he talked to Kei about Hinata and anything related to him. The only difference was that it was stronger with Akaashi, the emotion that many talked about and of which movies were made. (Or maybe that was just Kei hoping for too much - hoping that he'd get his best friend back to him.)

He wasn't after that kind of thing, even though everyone around him kept trying to set him up with someone. It was fucking annoying, and alright — some of the dates hadn't been  _bad_ , but he wanted the option of choosing himself what to do. Tetsurou had understood the feeling of people trying to decide for him, and he had suggested the deal carelessly, like it would be no inconvenience for him if Kei wanted that.

Kei remembered giving Kuroo a look of incredulity, mixed with his usual irritability, but Kuroo had been nothing less than most sincere in his suggestion.

In the end, Kei had agreed to it after giving the deal some thought. It was beneficial enough for him, alright, but what he hadn't figured out were Tetsu's motivations behind it. Though whatever those possible ulterior motives were, they were unlikely to be anything that'd result in Kei's dissatisfaction.

It wasn't like Tetsu would gain anything from fucking around with Kei, really — none that Kei could come up with, anyway. There were other people he knew would probably get satisfaction from it, from getting a chance to humiliate him.

If it had been anyone other than Tetsu, he would have suspected that much. Well, and Yamaguchi. And the idiot Hinata, who was too genuine for any truly ill-meaning ulterior motives; but the fact was, they were together and the idea of fake dating would probably never have dawned on them.

 _Since when have I started to trust you that much_ , Kei wondered between the bites of pizza he took into his mouth, glancing at Tetsu from the corner of his eyes. Tetsu was leaning against the back of the couch, completely at ease and wearing a small smile as he followed the unfolding events of the first part of the original Star Wars trilogy — which Kei had seen a dozen times himself, mostly because of Yamaguchi and once or twice with the rest of the old Karasuno team.

"You've got a bit of sauce on your cheek," Tetsu said quietly, eyes now looking at Kei with an amused twinkle as Tetsu smiled with mouth curving into a smooth half-smile. "Let me get that."

 _He's not gonna lick it off, is he…_  Kei's brow twitched at the absurd thought, which soon evaporated as it was proved wrong by Tetsu's thumb that wiped the stain off from the pale cheek.

"Much better," Tetsurou hummed, the thumb remaining on the corner of Kei's mouth a while longer. Kei stared at Tetsu. Another case of fluttering occurred inside his stomach, as though something was trying its best to take off and soar.

He hadn't put much thought into relationships before. Yamaguchi had been the first one he had ended up caring enough to make an effort to nourish the friendship. Even if the effort he put in was lackluster at best. Even if Yamaguchi probably deserved a better friend.

Upholding this one, at least to the public eye, needed more work and dedication, but it had ended up being easier than Kei had initially thought.

Though there were times when Kei found himself unable to breathe in Tetsu's radiance. It was suffocating, but not in a way that made Kei want to run away.

Or maybe he did?

It didn't sit right with him that he wanted Tetsu around badly enough to call him up, even if it was just a snapchat that didn't directly involve an invitation. Tetsu had simply read between the lines and reached the (highly accurate) conclusion.

_Tch._

"Something wrong, Tsukki?" Tetsu's thumb moved from Kei's lip up to the cheek. "Taken in by my face?" he teased, laughing a sort of out-of-breath laugh that left a comfortable feeling welling inside Kei.

"Considering punching that look off of it, actually," Kei muttered. Not that he would, because he kind of liked it. Tetsu's face. Not necessarily the smugness that decorated it. That he could live without perfectly fine.

" _Ow_ ," Tetsu's lips twisted into a pout, nearly a grimace. "You hurt my feelings, Kei."

Kei's lips rose into a half-hearted smirk. "Shall I kiss you to make it better, you big baby?"

Sometimes saying whatever came to his mind had its own terrible consequences, like the embarrassment that followed this particular question. Like the look that crossed Tetsu's face — it was half fascinated, half something Kei didn't want to put a name on, but it was incredibly obvious and tangible.

A flustered Tetsu was definitely new; Kei was used to his words being met with more teasing and smirks and maybe an arm wrapping round him. Tetsu actually getting  _affected_  was…

"Holy shit," Kei blinked. "You're actually blushing."

"Ah," Tetsu's hand withdrew from Kei's cheek and went to his own instead. "I guess I am, huh." His lips rose into a small smile, less smug than usual, and eyes softened. "Because Tsukki said something like that."

"What the hell," Kei blurted out, a bit flustered himself because of the abnormality of Tetsu's expression. "Tetsurou, don't be weird."

Tetsu's eyes seemed to grow dimmer when Kei consciously didn't use the nickname. "Ah, sorry about that, Tsukki," he sing-songed just when Kei's stomach dropped and Kei started to wonder what it was he had done, and smiled at Kei. "I wasn't expecting you to say that. You got me real good there, Kei." Tetsu sounded disappointed despite trying to mask it with that smile of his, the one that didn't quite reach his eyes when he looked at Kei and his face.

 _What are you expecting from me?_  Kei wanted to ask, wanted to hiss out in frustration, but he didn't. He didn't, because his heart felt too tight in his chest, as though it hurt because Tetsu was hurting.  _If_  Tetsu was even hurting in the first place

The look in Tetsu's eyes wavered.

That was it. Fine.

Kei leaned over and pressed his lip on the corner of Tetsu's mouth, near the dip he saw whenever Tetsu smiled. It was one of the things Kei assumed made people swoon over him, and it was, objective speaking, attractive enough.

Tetsu tensed up momentarily when Kei's lips touched his skin, but then the joy came bursting through, and Kei found himself tackled against the arm of the couch. "Tetsu…!" he groaned, half in irritation and half in pain as the arm pressed awkwardly against his side. What annoyed him the most was the complete and utter change in Tetsu's attitude, though, even more than the tackle itself. "What the  _fuck-_?"

"Hahah, sorry, Tsukki, sorry," Tetsu smiled as he pulled away a little, but not easing his grip around Kei's waist. "Did I make you anxious?"

"Stop that," Kei snapped, but the lines around his mouth relaxed. "Do I really have to kiss you again to make it better?"

"Not if you don't want to," Tetsu's voice was quiet as he looked away, not meeting Kei's curious eyes. "I said it before — let's only do things you're willing to. Or what you're comfortable with. Same difference, I guess."

"But you want to," Kei interrupted, deciphering what Tetsu was saying. "You want to kiss me."

"Yeah," Tetsu's smile slipped away, "I do."

.

.

.

It wasn't exactly a new urge Tetsurou had, if he were completely honest. He had felt it many times before, when Kei did something that tugged at Tetsurou's heartstrings in a pleasant way. Or not so pleasant, since that feeling led to anxious feeling in his chest — like something was trying to crawl out of him.

Not that Tsukki had to do much to get Tetsu's heart beat a little faster and out of rhythm, but so far Tetsurou hadn't acknowledged the feeling for what it was. Now, though, it was different. It was pretty dumb, but the realization that  _hey maybe this is the kind of love I have heard and read about_ left him fidgety and out of breath.

Sure, it was stupid and cliche to think about it that way. Not to mention very naive.

But holy shit did Kei make him  _feel_.

When he had gotten that snap earlier, on his way to get himself a pizza as consolation food (it's not an everyday event that you realize you're pretty much in love with your not-really boyfriend), he hadn't stopped to reconsider his actions and told Kei he was on his way.

Kei hadn't really gone out of his way to invite him over just out of sheer boredom or laziness before, after all. Before Kei had had a reason, or Tetsurou had simply crashed his place out of the sense that he  _should,_ knowing that Kei lived alone and his friends (Hinata and Yamaguchi, the little guys) were probably too busy making out somewhere.

Being invited over had made his heart leap and take off, which was kind of silly considering he had seen Kei on Saturday, had slept with him on the same bed, and had gotten kisses out of Kei then too.

And here he was now, waiting for more of those kisses as he looked away from Kei, whose face was carefully blank as he considered Tetsurou's words.

The way Kei looked at him now made Tetsurou fidgety and anxious. Scared, even. Bokuto wouldprobably laugh at him if he ever heard about Tetsurou feeling anxious over something like that.  _He won't_ , Tetsurou calmed himself and the spike of mild irritation went down.

Did this classify as a confession? Wanting Kei to kiss him… Probably not on Tsukki's books. If anything, Kei might think he was in it for the physical side bonuses their fake relationship brought. He did have some trust issues, as Tetsurou had learned from Kei's body language during their reluctant and strained acquaintanceship.

"Alright," Kei's lips pulled up into a disbelieving smirk, the one that Kei used to shove away doubts and insecurities that might hold him down. "Kiss me."

Sometimes Tetsurou thought he might be a little unfair on Kei, considering the other's introverted and private nature. Right now was one of those moments, and he hesitated. "It's okay if you don't want to, Tsukki," he said softly, his throat dry and sweat forming on his palms. Except that it wasn't really okay, considering how it would feel like a complete rejection, even if Tetsurou hadn't said the three words that hung on his mind right then.

Should he say them?

Kei stared at him, not impressed in the least. "I  _know_ ," he muttered, glancing down as Tetsurou turned his eyes to the blond fully. "I'm not saying it just because you're insistent." Kei's lips twitched, the previous smirk now a little more fragile. The insecurity that Kei didn't like showing others showed in the quiver of his facial muscles, short-lived but still there.

 _I love you_ , Tetsurou tried in his mind.  _I love you, Tsukki, I…_

"So, just," Kei continued, the insecurity gone as quickly as it had appeared, "kiss me, Tetsu."

Kei's cheeks had turned red, a bright shade of it, and Tetsurou's lips moved into a smile on their own. There were many things he wanted to say about Kei  _to_  Kei, but maybe this wasn't the time. Not when Kei was blushing in embarrassment at having to ask Tetsurou to kiss him. Despite what Kei himself had said, though, Tetsurou was sure it was because of the way Tetsurou had acted.

 _You can be so kind sometimes,_ Tetsurou marveled before mentally laughing at himself. "Okay, Tsukki, I get it."

"Good." Kei's lips lifted up the slightest bit.

Tetsurou  _really_  wanted to kiss them. Which he did, since he had Kei's verbal permission for it.

It was much more awkward than Tetsurou had thought it would be — much tenser than the previous ones they had shared, and the one they had had in the beginning of the movie they weren't really paying attention to anymore, if they ever had in the first place. Tetsurou breathed too hard, too quick, and ran out of oxygen much sooner than he'd have liked. Kei wasn't doing much better: lips stiff against Tetsurou's, it almost seemed like he wanted to do anything  _but_  to kiss the other.

Awkward moment passed before Tetsurou pulled away, grimacing at himself and Kei did the same.

"That was awful," Kei said, out-of-breath and flushed.

"The worst one yet," Tetsurou agreed, whatever pride he had shrinking and curling inside his chest and with it whatever intentions he had about confessing to Kei the feelings that made his chest heavy and cheeks flare.

Unexpected, Kei started snickering behind the hand that covered his mouth.

The sound was contagious, and Tetsurou found himself laughing with him only seconds after the other had started. "That was lame, right?"

"Extremely," Kei laughed, "should I brag about you not being the great kisser everyone makes you out to be, Tetsu?"

"Only if you want me to say the same about you, Tsukki," Tetsu grinned and winked at his not-yet boyfriend, grasping Kei's hand and pulling it away from his face. "I can also make up for that one, without our reputations going down the drain."

"Wouldn't make a difference with you," Kei shrugged, but he was smiling, and everything was all right in Tetsurou's world.

Even though he couldn't manage to say the words he wanted to let out.

Kenma was probably going to hate him when he'd call him again.


	8. Magnetic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yamaguchi is really happy for Tsukki.

"Tsukki, I'm so sorry!"

Yamaguchi's apologies weren't exactly wanted or needed, but Kei pursed his lips and let the freckled young man beside him continue as they made their way slowly to the stuffed cafeteria. It gave him a sort of wicked satisfaction, anyway. Yamaguchi realizing that he may have gotten a little too wrapped around Hinata for the good part of the past few weeks was a welcome change.

The distress on the freckled boy's face, though, was not.

"It's not a big deal," Kei shrugged his shoulders carelessly, giving Yamaguchi half a glance to reassure him that it really was alright. It wasn't, really, but Kei hadn't had much time to wallow in the misery of missing his best friend. Tetsurou had done a swell job at keeping Kei busy — as well as the rest of the things that had accumulated and formed his routines the past days and weeks.

Like those papers that Kei shouldn't ignore anymore.

"I've been spending time with Kuroo-san, so."

Yamaguchi's eyes lit up, though his brows quirked at the formal manner Kei addressed Tetsurou. "Of course you have," Yamaguchi laughed, looking a little sheepish, but the light in his eyes grew brighter as he grasped at Kei's sleeve like a child would at their mother's. Kei stiffened, but the earnest look Yamaguchi wore on his face — he always wore his heart on the sleeve, much to Kei's chagrin — kept him from shaking Yamaguchi off. "Tsukki, you're happy right now, right?"

The question threw him off a bit, but he probably should have expected that question to pop up at some point — Kei knew he was difficult to read, and Yamaguchi worried about him too much. It was touching, kind of, but Kei still wished Yamaguchi would stop.

"Do I  _seem_  unhappy to you?" Kei evaded the question with a grumble and wrinkled brow.

"No, not at all," Yamaguchi muttered, letting go of Kei's sleeve and moving the hand up to scratch at the freckled cheek. "You're just kind of difficult to read sometimes, Tsukki. Even though I know you well enough by now to find the signs, but—"

"You're rambling," Kei interrupted, half a smile tugging at his lips. "But yes, I am happy." The words fell heavily past his lips, the raw honesty something he was unaccustomed to, which made his insides squeeze uncomfortably. "Kuroo-san is…" Kei adjusted his glasses to distract himself. "…easy to be around."

The cafeteria was bustling with people and students from the medical department. Kei made a face before turning around. "Let's grab some coffee instead," he said to Yamaguchi, who shrugged and followed along by his side, ready to make idle chat about absolutely anything but especially Kuroo. Apparently Yamaguchi was taking it upon himself to make sure Kuroo was treating Tsukki the way Tsukki deserved — lots of love and care and chocolate-tasting kisses.

"I don't even like chocolate," Kei said, and Yamaguchi regretted saying that out loud. Not much, but a little, because Kei didn't usually take such sappy things well from anyone. Except probably Kuroo-san, who...

"Now that's just sad," a familiar voice said from behind their backs, and Yamaguchi's heart was sent skyrocketing to the point it felt like he was going to throw it up from his throat, "there go my plans for romantic Valentine's Day."

Kei, on the other hand, wasn't surprised or even fazed by the sudden appearance of Kuroo Tetsurou. He didn't even protest when Tetsurou's arm slung over his shoulder oh so casually. Yamaguchi, once his heart had settled, snickered quietly, and Kei threw him a look.  _Stop that._  "That's all the way in February. And isn't White Day a more accurate date?"

Tetsurou just laughed, winking at Yamaguchi as a greeting and effectively making Kei's mouth twitch out of irritation. Yamaguchi couldn't quite suppress the smile that rose to his lips.

"But that's a month later, Tsukki!" Tetsurou pouted. "Besides, we could celebrate both. Lots of love. And lots of chocolate… or ice cream, if you prefer that. And like, have a Jurassic Park marathon while we're at it, too."

Kei's mouth curved into a smile only Yamaguchi could see from his angle. "Lame," Kei huffed, but didn't sound like he meant it at all.

"What, do I need a special membership card for the Dino Club to get to share that with you?" Tetsurou sighed, but the teeth-revealing grin on his face showed off just how amusing he found this bickering to be. "Do my special boyfriend powers not grant me that?"

Yamaguchi snickered, though he tried to cover it up by holding a hand over his mouth. Kei's unimpressed stare told him it hadn't worked — an irritated flicker in the honey colored eyes before the moved to glance to Tetsurou, whose arm had moved down to Kei's waist instead.

 _Woah, I'd never get away with that,_ Yamaguchi marveled silently as Tetsurou gave Kei's hip a gentle squeeze, startling the other just a little, which Kei naturally tried to hide. He didn't really manage it, Yamaguchi noticed from the red that adorned the tip of his ear.

"You already have plenty of special boyfriend privileges," Kei argued back, raising a hand towards Tetsurou's face as if to cup his cheek, but in the end he pressed the tip of his forefinger against Tetsurou's nose, if Yamaguchi saw right. It was hard to tell, being by Kei's right side. "Are those not enough, Tetsu?"

 _He called him Tetsu…_  and suddenly it seemed like Yamaguchi was intruding on something private and that he should maybe tiptoe away while Kuroo's arm kept Tsukki in his place. Yamaguchi followed along, regardless. He needed something in his stomach, whether it was just a lousy cup of coffee or a bag of marshmallows. And Tsukki's company, because the campus was  _huge_  and  _terrifying_  and Yamaguchi needed someone to hang onto.

And because Tsukki was Tsukki.

"Did you just boop me in the nose, Kei?" Tetsurou leaned over to look at Yamaguchi. "Did he just boop me, Yamaguchi?"

Yamaguchi smiled at the look of utter disbelief he saw on Tetsurou's face, mixed in with a lot of amusement and scheming, before nodding vigorously. "He did, Kuroo-san! Tsukki booped you!"

"Ohoho," Tetsurou's grin widened, eyes crinkling mischievously, and Yamaguchi couldn't help reciprocating it. "On the count of three, Yamaguchi. One… two.."

"Oh no," Kei sighed, nose wrinkling just before Yamaguchi and Tetsurou both leaped to boop at Kei's nose.

"Boop!" they said at the same time before bursting into what Kei viewed to be a rather immature burst of giggles.

"Are you two actually children?" Kei grunted, rubbing at the tip of his nose as he looked at the two of them, both still holding their sides as they tried to get over their lung-aching fits of amusement. "It wasn't that fun, you know." But the frown that made his eyes cross went away, the tight lines of his face smoothed, and Yamaguchi knew he wasn't mad at them or even half as irritated as he tried to play it.

"Sorry, sorry, Tsukki," Yamaguchi finally straightened himself while Tetsurou was still wheezing over it. Kei willfully ignored him. "But it was cute, you know? You booped Kuroo-san first, so of course you had to be booped back."

"Yeah, well," Kei adjusted his glasses again, a fresh flush dusting his cheeks, "that's because Tetsu was being stupid. As usual."

"How mean, Tsukki," Tetsurou's voice broke in, and the man himself wrapped arms around Kei's midriff, blowing air at Kei's ear. Kei promptly elbowed him, but not with enough force to make Tetsurou let go of him. There were some stares from passing students (mostly because of Tetsurou, probably), but all three of them paid no mind to that. "I was just being my good ol' affectionate self."

Kei shrugged his shoulders, attention drifting to the coffee machine at the end of the hallway. "You should tone it down a little bit." He glanced at Yamaguchi. "Hot chocolate, coffee, or tea? I know you probably forgot your wallet to your apartment again."

Yamaguchi tried his pockets, and then his bag. Oh. He grinned sheepishly at Kei, whose lips rose knowingly. "Uh, hot chocolate works for me, Tsukki."

"And you?" Kei glanced at Tetsurou as he took a plastic cup for Yamaguchi and another one for himself. "The smug one over there. You want some too?"

Tetsurou blinked owlishly before shrugging. "Sure, if you'll let me pay you back at some point."

"It's not that expensive," Kei rolled his eyes as he took a third cup as he set one in the machine, pressing a button. "Yamaguchi, this one's yours." Kei carefully took it, making a face before nudging it at Yamaguchi. "It's hot."

Too little too late, though, Yamaguchi was already wincing as he held the plastic piece of crap someone called a cup.

"Which one for you, Tetsu?"

"Coffee with milk works for me well enough," Tetsurou hummed. "I need to get through the rest of my psych classes somehow."

"Alright." Soon, Kei extended another plastic cup out to Tetsurou, grimacing. "It's pretty hot, too."

"Like me," Tetsurou said as he took the cup without as much as flinching at the heat radiating off of it. Kei snickered to himself, and Yamaguchi couldn't help but join as he blew at his hot chocolate, luckily not spilling the hot liquid on himself. "No wonder you guys are friends. You two are  _mean._ "

"Sorry," Yamaguchi apologized, but Tetsurou just waved it off.

"Anyway, Tsukki, you sure are being kind today, buying me coffee and all that… Maybe you did get sick after Friday, after all?"

Kei snorted as his own cup of coffee was finished. He turned around slowly and sat down on one of the free chairs around the round table Tetsurou and Yamaguchi already occupied. Kei set the cup down to let it cool down before blinking at Yamaguchi and Tetsurou, who looked at him curiously.

"Whatever do you mean?" Kei's lips widened into a crooked smirk as he patted at his chest, over where his heart would be. "I'm  _always_  this kind, Tetsurou."

Yamaguchi didn't get the joke, but the look on both Kei and Tetsurou's faces sent him into another burst of giggles. Tetsurou seemed a little stunned for a moment — that astonished widening of his eyes was  _hilarious_  — before he too let out a roar of laughter. "Ha! I'm glad you remember my words from that time so  _well_ , Tsukki!" He slapped at the table in his amusement, accidentally knocking his coffee down. "…Fuck."

It didn't even drop onto the table, but his  _pants_ , and Tetsurou's face twisted in pain as the hot liquid seeped through the fabric of his pants.

"Shit, are you okay?" Kei's own laughter subsided quickly, his face now marred with a look of concern as he leaned over to check the damage. "Do you need to go to the infirmary— might be some first degree burns—"

"Shhh, baby," Tetsurou leaned over to press his finger against Kei's lips to shush him, and Yamaguchi's face flushed in behalf of Kei. The change from an easygoing, relaxed bickering to sudden intimacy and intensity was  _fast_  with these two. "It just felt a little nasty is all. I'm  _fine._ "

 _Maybe I should snapchat this to the rest of the old team,_ Yamaguchi considered but decided against it when Tsukki rolled his eyes in exasperated worry.

"Don't be an idiot," Kei sighed against Tetsurou's finger. "Take your pants off and let me—" At this point, Kei seemed to realize just what he was saying, and froze. Yamaguchi wiped his eyes to keep himself from crying out of suppressed laughter. It was extremely difficult not to laugh, because Kei's expression was a humorous mixture of horror, self-loathing and embarrassment all in one go.

Tetsurou's face, on the other hand, had turned smugger, the previous pain on his legs completely forgotten now. "Woah there, Tsukki. That was more straightforward of you than I expected. You could have just told me beforehand, you know—"

"I meant no such thing!" Kei spluttered vehemently, glaring down at the finger that wiggled against his lips.

"He might bite, Kuroo-san," Yamaguchi whispered. "Tsukki has done that before."

"He can bite me all he wants," Tetsurou murmured back, smirking obnoxiously as Kei frowned at them. At least he hadn't heard  _that_  exchange, or else Yamaguchi would get his part of that glare.

Yamaguchi smiled at himself as he couldn't help himself and fished the phone out of his pocket. "Say cheese, Tsukki, Kuroo-san!"

Kei's eyes flickered towards him, annoyed but urgent. "Yamaguchi, you ass—"

"Cheese," Tetsurou finished for Kei, leaning over quickly just as Yamaguchi was setting the phone into a good position for the picture. Moving his finger away from Kei's mouth, Tetsurou lifted the thick-framed glasses up the other's forehead before planting a kiss high on the bridge of Kei's nose, exactly at the right time as Yamaguchi took the photo of the kiss and Kei's mortified expression.

"It's perfect," Yamaguchi grinned at them when Tetsurou started to pull away, but he paused when Kei's eyes lingered on Tetsu, the glasses hanging askew awkwardly low on his nose, and Tetsurou looking right back at him.

_Woah, this is kind of intense._

The kind of intensity that was usually followed by a heavy make-out session or even more intense heart-to-heart conversation about how they felt about each other, followed by touching the other's face with hands. A lot of that.

_Uh, guys, remember that we're at university currently…_

"Say, when's your next class, Tsukki?" Tetsurou finally broke the silence that had fallen for one long moment. "I think I can skip my next one if you have some free time."

"Don't skip them, you idiot," Kei sighed as he finally pushed his glasses up. "I _am_ free until about two…."

"Perfect," Tetsurou's grin was blinding. "A lunch date it is, then."

"I was going to have lunch with Yamaguchi," Kei shook his head in rejection. "No way."

"What? Not like he minds my company, right?" Tetsurou's grin wavered slightly as he glanced at Yamaguchi. "I mean, I get it if it's not fine. Bros before untimely boyfriends and all that, that's cool."

Tetsurou's whole posture seemed to sink a little bit, and Yamaguchi shook his head mildly. "No, that's fine with me. We didn't get to catch up at Suga-san's party really, so…"

"You're too good to be true," Tetsurou smiled at him, the look in his eyes grateful as he moved to grasp Yamaguchi's hands tightly for a brief moment. "Thanks a lot!"

"Oh god, you two together will make my head hurt," Kei grumbled in the background, but Yamaguchi could only laugh at the sincerity on Tetsurou's face and the lovesick behaviour both of them emitted. Gosh, if he was like that with Hinata all the time, Tsukki must have the patience of a saint…

Shaking his head at the thought, Yamaguchi finished his now chilled coffee and finished sending the snapchat of Tetsurou and Kei to the old Karasuno team.

 _Tanaka-senpai owes me a pizza,_  was the caption of the picture of Tetsurou pressing a gentle kiss between Kei's brows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i could not resist the reference, okay, i could not


	9. The Boy's Too Shy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One would think Kuroo Tetsurou was smoother than this.

The tickets in his hand effectively prevented him from wiping the sweat off into his pants or any other available fabric, but that was the least of his problems right now, he supposed.

Bokuto would probably laugh his ass off at the sight of him standing nervously behind Kei's door, holding onto a pair of tickets for a volleyball match. He had gotten them from Sawamura, who had initially intended to go with Sugawara, because Kageyama would be there and volleyball dates were typical for them. However, they couldn't go — something about Sugawara catching a flu, and Sawamura having to take care of him — and so the tickets went to better pockets.

Tetsurou glanced at the tickets and the date printed on them. He should have asked earlier; he should have asked when he saw Kei at university earlier, but somehow the tickets had slipped off his mind then, perhaps because Kei had held his hand on his own accord, a look of mild anxiety flickering in his eye as he clutched at Tetsurou's fingers hard.

He still wasn't sure whether Kei had been nervous to take his hand or whether he had taken it out of nervousness towards something else.

Either way, it had distracted Tetsurou enough to make him forget all about the tickets in his pockets until he had already separated from Kei and was on his way back to the apartment he shared with the two owls, Akaashi and Bokuto. From there, he had turned back and headed off to Kei's instead, knowing the other had also left from the campus by now, but the thing was…

He still hadn't figured out a way how to ask Kei to join him.

 _Lame_ ,  _you're so lame_ , Tetsurou sighed inwardly at himself as he contemplated whether to press the doorbell or just leave to the match alone. Fuck, he wasn't even sure if Kei would say yes to a volleyball match; he knew Kei didn't  _hate_ the sport, far from it, but Kei hadn't shown any interest in watching professionals go at it before, and just…

Tetsurou was afraid he'd say  _no_.

Which was ridiculous, logically thinking. Kei had shown interest in spending time with him before — last weekend being a very good example of that. Kei hadn't pushed him away when he had cuddled him  _on his bed_.

Despite that, his palms were sweaty, and his heart heavy with worry as he tried to pep talk himself into pressing the doorbell and getting Kei to join him. It wasn't like Kei would even consider it a date. Probably. It would be  _nice_  if he did, but…

Tetsurou ran his free hand through the untamed bedhair he never really bothered to fight, and took a deep breath as he stared at the nondescript door before him. He had been standing there for five minutes by now; no other occupants of the apartments beside Kei's had passed by, luckily. Or if they had, Tetsurou hadn't noticed, which was possible since his main concern of the moment kept him preoccupied well enough.

Exhaling softly, frustrated at himself, Tetsurou pushed his hand out of the black mess of hair and pressed the doorbell before his insecurities had the chance to stop him.

_Please be home, please be home…_

Maybe he should have brought roses.

Nah. Kei would have thrown them at his face. Or threw them into the nearest trashcan. Along with Tetsurou.

Except that they weren't in high school anymore, and despite Kei's long-suffering sighs whenever Tetsurou was simply  _too much_ , he didn't consider Tetsurou complete trash. It showed on his face and actions, if not his words.

That thought — coupled with the bizarre mental image of Kei slam-dunking him into the trashcan — calmed him down. (Now Tetsurou wondered if Kei knew how to slam-dunk. With his height, he'd have been suitable for basketball too, after all…)

It was all he could do to not burst into a hysterical fit of laughter when Kei opened the door, glasses askew on his nose and his overall expression closer to  _I'm so tired I'll probably babble something stupid agreeable to whatever you say_  than  _fuck off I won't deal with you._ It was endearing, but…

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Tetsurou grinned sheepishly, apologetically because he knew Kei had issues with sleep. Though he supposed sleeping at five in the afternoon wasn't exactly a good idea either for Kei. "I can leave, you know—"

Kei shook his head wordlessly, a hand covering his mouth as he yawned. "Unintended nap, that's all." Kei sounded drowsy and disoriented, like he wasn't exactly aware of what was going on around him. Tetsurou frowned a little, the tickets in his hand less important suddenly.

"You sure?"

Kei's face twisted a little into a more normal expression of superficial irritation. "I'm  _fine_ ," he said. "What're you doing here, Tetsu?"

The nickname had caught on fast, but it still made Tetsurou's heart flutter. It had only taken  _years_  to get Tsukki give him one. Tetsurou took a deep breath, the mental image of his head slam-dunked into the nearest trashcan fresh in his head. It was ridiculous enough to make him forget what he was supposed to say, and instead he blurted out, "Do you know how to play basketball, Tsukki?"

"What kind of question is  _that_?"

Tetsurou shrugged. He still had his head on his shoulders. There was no trashcan nearby, unless he had ignored something crucial on his way. Everything was going well so far — except that he hadn't managed to ask Tsukki out yet, which had been his main objective. "A fairly straightforward one?" he laughed nervously. "So, do you?"

Kei's lips tilted into a half-smirk. "I think P.E. made sure of that back in middle and high school." Then came the cock of his eyebrow, and a question. " _Why_ are you asking, Tetsu… rou?" Kei rushed to add the ending syllable, but Tetsurou  _knew_ what he had heard _._  Oh, the damage was done. If he didn't have such a good poker face, he'd probably be on the floor holding his head between his hands.

Such was the power of nicknames.

"Uh, just," Tetsurou shrugged helplessly. He couldn't tell Kei the ridiculous thought that had plagued him the last minute or two, now could he? "I was just wondering, since you're tall enough to be successful at that too. And I dunno, if you ever want to just unwind, we could play one-on-one at some point."

The dark rings under Kei's eyes faded a little as the honey-brown colored eyes crinkled. "It's winter. Literally winter. How do you—"

"Well, we could use Nekoma's gym? I have the keys, you know."

Kei stared. "Why the hell—"

Tetsurou winked. "I was a dearly beloved senpai once upon a time. That gets me far even with the new team."

"Of course it does." Kei sighed, rolling his eyes before shrugging and letting it go. "So, you… want to play basketball with me."

"Not right now," Tetsurou hurried into saying, the heat on his cheeks rising again. "Actually, I came to ask if you want to come with me for this." He shoved the tickets at Kei, who glanced down at them once finished correcting his glasses' position. "Sawamura gave them to me, since Sugawara's sick, and well. Who else would I want to join me other than you?"

"Literally anyone else," Kei said as he inspected the tickets with a small wrinkle between his brows. "I was never that fond of the sport to begin with."

"Now that's not true at all," Tetsurou laughed. "You wouldn't have gotten very far if you hadn't had some spark in you. And even if you say it's because of your big brother, the truth is that you saw something that made you interested, yeah?"

He half-expected Kei to continue arguing or to punch him in the face, even though Kei wouldn't do that when his mouth was his most powerful weapon, so he was mildly surprised when Kei just looked at him thoughtfully for a few moments longer before nodding almost unnoticeably. "Fine. I'll go with you."

Tetsurou's face lit up like the sun.

"You could have just called me, though," Kei continued, giving Tetsurou one of the tickets back. "The match isn't until tomorrow."

"Uh." Actually, in his nervousness he had forgotten that to be a valid option as well, but it was too late for regrets now. Besides, if he were completely honest, he just wanted to do it face-to-face, as a sort of practice round for the day he would say "I love you, Tsukki" without breaking eye contact with Kei while smiling and Kei would see his honesty and maybe blush a little before leaping into his arms and…

And Tetsurou was getting waaaay too far ahead of himself.

"I was around, so I just wanted to pop by," he shrugged. "Besides, you'd hate it if I didn't give you any time to think about it."

"I said yes regardless," Kei said. "But you're right. I would have hated that." Then Kei's lips turned into a thin line as he eyed the ticket he held onto. "Of course it's the King's match… of all the possible ones."

Ah. "It's your setter-kun's team? The one's you don't like?"

Kei let out a short laugh that sounded half-forced. A yawn broke through in the middle of it before Kei said anything. "Raw talent induces jealousy," was what he said, surprising Tetsurou. "I was never above of such."

Tetsurou hummed. "You never would have admitted that back in high school."

"People grow up," Kei said dismissively before stepping aside to let Tetsurou in. "Don't look so surprised by it."

The change was not bad, Tetsurou admitted in his head as he followed Kei into his apartment and closed the door behind him, even though he hadn't intended to crash Kei's place that day.

Even less intended was Kei dozing off against Tetsurou's shoulder when they surfed through several channels in attempt to find something worth watching, but Tetsurou rather enjoyed the whole thing. Kei's head pressed against Tetsurou's shoulder, glasses hanging in awkward angle on his nose, while he breathed steadily and peacefully in his sleep. Tetsurou, despite doing his best, kept glancing at Kei's face and the dark bags under Kei's eyes — or tried to, at least, by tilting his head forward as far as it would go without waking the sleeping beauty.

In the end, he settled for the feeling of Kei's blond curls tickling at his neck and the warmth clamminess of Kei's hand in his. Maybe this was what love was at most times: quiet evenings spent in silence while taking comfort in the other's presence; an unspoken intimacy hidden from people's eyes.

Tetsurou set his head against the back of the couch and stared up, half a smile on lips that had yet to say what they itched to say the most. The memory of a lanky, pissy high school boy with blond hair and sassy tongue emerged, followed by memories of frowns and fake, insulting smiles. Tetsurou thought a lot about that boy. Back then, too, though it had been for his intention to make that battle of the trash heaps come true; for that, Karasuno had needed Tsukki.

He had wondered about Tsukishima Kei — about his motivations, about whether he cared for volleyball as much as the rest of his team. He had wanted to be the one to light that fire in Tsukki, but in the end, Bokuto's response had been the starting line for their co-operation.

Tetsurou laughed silently at his own thoughts.

_Oh shit, I really want to try playing with Tsukki again._

For the time being, Tetsurou leaned his cheek against Kei's head and held onto him a little tighter.

_One thing at a time, Tetsurou._

.

.

.

The bags under Kei's eyes were more noticeable the following day when they went to the game. Tetsurou frowned at the sight in concern, but let it be when Kei shrugged it off with a few dismissive words about schoolwork and the general atmosphere of stress at his classes.

(The match happened at a good time, then, Tetsurou thought as he tugged Kei along. Maybe it'd de-stress Tsukki.)

Though, if he were more tired than usual, Kei didn't let it show on his face as he watched the match unfolding below on the court, brows knit together in a slight furrow. Tetsurou was leaning forward on his seat, eyes narrow with tension as he watched the ball move from one side to another swiftly, though not always smoothly as players received the ball at the last possible moment.

Kageyama was there, too, but it was hard to tell which one of the players he was, since dark hair wasn't uncommon on the court. Kei, on the other hand, seemed to know perfectly where his old teammate was.

"He tosses as perfectly as always," Kei commented with a mildly disgusted tone, but Tetsurou heard no resentment. From the corner of his eye, it looked as though Kei's lips were turning upwards as he held his cheek with his palm. "University really would have been wasted on him."

"You're happy for him," Tetsurou commented as he watched the perfectly curved toss to the far end of the net, where one of the spikers got it and slammed it over the net. That must have been Kageyama's, Tetsurou figured as he cheered with the crowd. Kei didn't join in; instead, he remained as composed as he was when not pushed too far by people's stupidity.

"Well, he'd have dropped out of university anyway, so," Kei shook his head. "He made the right choice, is all I'm saying."

"It's okay to be honest, you know," Tetsurou couldn't help teasing Kei, and nudged affectionately at his side right on the ticklish spot he knew was there. Kei squirmed away as predicted, throwing a disgruntled look at Tetsurou, who grinned charmingly in return. "You're not as grumpy as you let on, Tsukki."

The lack of response wasn't unexpected, and Tetsurou remained silent as well, both of their attention focused on the players and the match. Tetsurou  _did_ , however, move his hand over to Kei's and lace their fingers together. The warmth was familiar, and completely welcome, but the slight quivering of the long and slim fingers entwined with Tetsurou's definitely wasn't usual.

At first he didn't pay mind to it, since the match was getting more and more intense, and occasionally the trembling of Kei's fingers went away as Kei squeezed at Tetsurou's hand when the set drew to a close, Kageyama's team playing for the set point.

Kei could say anything he wanted about disliking volleyball, but the tension oozing off of him definitely countered them as he leaned forward, elbows on his knees and hand clutching Tetsurou's like he was worried Kageyama's team would screw it up or the other team's blockers, who were  _good_ , would get it.

"Doesn't it just make your blood boil?" Tetsurou said quietly, a certain wistfulness to his tone. "Watching them block, I mean."

"Not particularly."

Tetsurou huffed. "Oh, c'mon, Tsukki, act a little more like your age, will you." He purposely rubbed his thumb over Kei's hand, smoothing the skin and trailing circles over the skin. Kei's fingers uncurled cautiously, as if ready to let go of Tetsurou's hand, before curling again, shaking a little in the other's hold.

"Then again, I like you just the way you are," Tetsurou leaned to murmur into Kei's ear as the crowd burst into loud cheers; the first set had gone to Kageyama's team when Tetsurou hadn't paid attention. "Stubborn, but so very cute."

Kei's hand clutched at Tetsurou's harder then, an instinctive response to the utterance, but Kei didn't say anything back just yet.

When the crowd and the court had fallen silent again, Kei looked at Tetsurou, his head moving the minimal amount it had to. Even from this angle, Tetsurou could see the beginnings of a flush on Kei's face, and he gave a quiet cackle at the sight, though the damage done to his heart was far worse than any embarrassment Kei felt at his words. Or anger. Or whatever it was that made Kei blush like that.

"Stop, just stop," Kei finally said, sounding weaker than Tetsurou was used to, "stop saying shit like that." The honey-brown eyes, which Tetsurou liked to stare at when he got away with it, turned away, narrowing with frustration as Kei pursed his lips in consideration.

When Kei said nothing else, Tetsurou blinked and tried to meet his gaze again. "Hey, I never say anything I don't mean." Kei still refused to look directly at him, but his grip on Tetsurou's hand tightened a little bit. "Tsukki?"

_Did I overdo it?.._

_Ah, wait, why is he reacting like this in the first place?_

The spectators near them luckily didn't pay attention to them, more focused on chatting about the first set and how nice it was to see promising young athletes playing with such vigor.

"I, uh," Tetsurou uncurled his fingers and shrugged, "sorry, I get carried away easily, so, uh. You can forget I said anything, if it makes you that uncomfortable."

Kei didn't let Tetsurou to pull his hand away, though, and turned to look at him.  _Finally._  "Don't apologize," he muttered, looking a little constipated, but his lips curved up a little. "I already know you're stupid."

 _Stupidly in love with you,_  Tetsurou wanted to retort, but again the words got stuck in his windpipe at the crucial moment.

He was really starting to hate his own powerlessness against Kei — or rather, against his feelings for Kei.

"Besides," Kei cleared his throat, looking uneasy again, like something was prickling at him somewhere, "I really—"

The whistle that signaled the beginning of the next set really couldn't have been whistled at the worst time, since it made Kei's jaw tense and clench up suddenly, the words bitten back behind his teeth again. "Never mind," Kei breathed out, and Tetsurou's stomach sank, but he didn't press the matter further.

He was busy mulling over his own inability to say just three words to Kei, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> weeps thank you so much for all the support this fic has been getting from you   
> (this story ended up being longer than I intended but, well, these idiots are /dense/)


	10. Unconditionally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, that might be the most stupid thing that had ever left Kei's mouth.

At least the volleyball match offered a good distraction from the queasy feeling that wallowed in the pit of his stomach. And, hah, he  _did_  find things he could criticize the King for, which brought a smirk to his face, though it was half-hearted at best as he was overly conscious of the hand in his and the person beside him.

Having only recently made up his mind to tell Tetsurou that this wasn't going to work, not when Kei had somehow gotten in too deep, he still wasn't sure how to bring it up with Tetsurou and whether he should actually do it. He  _liked_  Tetsurou. He loved his company, even if saying it was like pulling his teeth out with a rusty pair of scissors. But it wasn't like the feeling was necessarily returned; he  _knew_  Tetsu, he  _knew_  Tetsu was generous with his affections when it came to friends and such.

(He willfully left the memories of the kisses aside when he considered that.)

Admitting the feeling's existence and acknowledging the reason Tetsurou put him so at ease had been difficult. Emotions such as this, something this fragile, made him too vulnerable for his liking; getting attached when it would end up disappointing him later on was just plain stupid.

Well, that's what he had thought before about volleyball, too, and yet here he was again: watching a volleyball match of someone he had spent good amount of high school sending sneers at. And watching it with the person that he cared for in a way that was completely foreign to him.

He had been so  _close._

Kei's attention wasn't entirely on the second set of the match; his heart was beating too loudly in his chest, too hard and anxiously; the gym seemed to shrink until it only consisted of the two seats he and Tetsu occupied — and of the court below, where Kageyama had tossed a picture perfect toss to one of his spikers.

 _He would so use a volleyball metaphor to get it out of his mouth,_  Kei thought, mouth quirking a little as he adjusted his grip on Tetsu's hand.  _Ugh, maybe something like: nothing's going to block my love for you._

He tried to not snort too loudly at the lameness of that. It sounded like something Tetsu too would use if he ever got the chance. Kei glanced at Tetsu from the corner of his eyes, and wondered —  _would it be for me?_

This train of thought was completely self-indulging, but it gave a pleasant sense of hope in its ridiculousness, and it made Kei's heart chill a little bit. At least it had realized it wasn't in a goddamn horse race.

 _God, this is pathetic_ , Kei inwardly rolled his eyes at himself as Tetsu leaned forward in excitement— Kageyama's blockers had just barely managed to block the ball, but it wasn't out just yet, and it soon returned to the opposing team's experienced setter.

Kei couldn't stop staring at Tetsu.

 _Doesn't it make your blood boil_ , Tetsu had asked earlier, regarding the match.

 _Yes,_  Kei agreed in his head as he tried to shift his attention back to the game,  _you do._

.

.

.

In the end, the match was finished in two sets — but it was close, so very close, and it had managed to pull Kei's attention away from Tetsu almost completely, to the point where Kei forgot he was holding the other's hand.

He only realized it when Tetsu turned to him, that bedhair swaying, and brought their joined hands up while the rest of the audience slowly trickled out from the gym. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave or anything, and neither was Kei, if he were to be completely honest. Though the sweaty gym the personnel was busy cleaning up wasn't a good place for any… emotional moments or realizations.

 _You're so pathetic,_  he told himself for probably the tenth time, frowning as he looked at Tetsurou, who kept fiddling with Kei's fingers silently, absently like it was automatic by now. Like touching Kei's hand helped him think or clarify his thoughts.

 _Stop doing this to yourself,_  Kei inwardly scolded himself, and took a deep breath. He hadn't spent the previous nights mulling over his situation with Tetsurou just to back off the last moment. He wasn't that much of a coward, though admittedly he was anxious what would happen if he was reading too much into Tetsu's actions and words.

His thoughts were abruptly cut off by Tetsu raising Kei's hand to his lips, mouthing something incomprehensible against the back of Kei's hand.

"What are you doing?"

Ah, shit, that was not what he had meant to say at all; apparently, it had been the wrong thing to say as well, since Tetsu straightened up immediately away from Kei's hand, as though the words had smacked him in the face.

Cheeks red, Tetsu looked away from Kei, whose mouth went dry. Fuck. He had fucked up. "Uh, sorry, Tsukki; should've remembered you don't like that too much." Tetsu managed a small smile, eyes still not quite meeting Kei's and focused on their hands — Kei had tightened his grip when Tetsu had tried to pull away. As disgusting as the clammy sweat that had formed a long time ago was, Kei couldn't bring himself to care, especially when it felt like he would be letting something good go if he didn't hold onto Tetsu's hand.

He was a fairly logical person, so that feeling itself was foolish to him, but sometimes certain things were out of the grasp of logic. Volleyball and Karasuno's drive to get to nationals being notorious examples of those.

Kei took a deep breath.

He hesitated to call the feeling  _love_  in its purest meaning, but…

He wasn't really sure when he had started to look at Tetsu more fondly or when Tetsu had gotten a secured, special place in Kei's life and mind, but what he did know was that he wanted to keep Tetsu in there. The possibility that at some point Tetsu would stop treating Kei like Kei deserved to be cared about actually hurt — alright, that was pretty selfish of Kei, wasn't it? Wanting to be cared about despite being so difficult to care about.

His heart was about to burst.

 _Just… get it out of your mouth, and… just try to get what you want for once, you loser,_  Kei reprimanded himself as he swallowed back some air.

"Tetsu," Kei started, and  _this is too mortifying I can't do this_  flitted through his head, but he pushed that thought aside. "Tetsu, look at me."

Tetsu raised his head at Kei's call, a soft smile on his lips as his eyes caught Kei's. How he had been able to look away before was truly a mystery to Kei; sometimes it was hard to tell, but Tetsu's eyes could speak on their own — gentle, stupid things like  _I'm here for you_  and  _you're not alone_  and then there were times when Kei thought he could see an  _I love you_ in them.

Tetsu's eyes could pack quite the punch, as was evident now when Kei's breath left his mouth in a soundless wheeze.  _Stop that,_  Kei thought spitefully,  _stop leaving me breathless, you asshole._

"Tsukki," Tetsu's mouth curved up higher at the sound of Kei's nickname that had yet to disappear. Tetsu's hand squeezed at Kei's, thumb rubbing soothing circles. "Are you anxious about something? You've been shaking every now and then throughout this whole match." Tetsu's mouth — why was Kei staring at it in the first place? — curved down a bit. "Or sick? You do look tired…" Tetsu was rambling now, but as concerned as he probably genuinely was, there was a hint of nervousness in his eyes.

At least Kei wasn't alone in that.

"Don't worry about that," he said dismissively, feeling light-headed as he tried to figure out a way to just say what he wanted to say without making it a volleyball pun or pick-up line. He  _refused_  to be like Kageyama and Kuroo in that way. "I just…" he trailed off, pushing glasses up his nose with his free hand while the other fidgeted in Tetsu's hold.

_Getting real tired of my own bullshit._

"This fake dating thing isn't," Kei blurted out, "working out."

Tetsu  _froze_ on his seat.

Kei wanted to slap himself across the face, which was growing hot with the flush that spread on his skin.

"Ah," Tetsu's head sunk a little, but Kei had already seen the flicker of disappointment that had flashed in Tetsu's eyes. "I see. Well, at least it worked for the time being, yeah? You weren't set up on any blind dates when this was going on, and got to have pretty good times with me. Now,  _that's_  definitely worth bragging about, haha—" The pained look on Tetsu's face was explicit in all its heartache, and maybe that was the precise moment that Kei realized that he wasn't alone in this.

He hadn't been alone feeling that way…

"I didn't mean it like that!" Kei interrupted impatiently, letting go of Tetsu's hand and moved his own to Tetsu's cheek, leaning close with a little too much force and (more or less) accidentally headbutting Tetsu in the process.

"Ow!" both of them grunted, and Kei pulled back both his hand and head, holding it between his hands.

"Then," Tetsu was the first one to recover, and he was the one to close the space between them this time, "what did you mean, Kei?"

Kei felt the searching, curious gaze on him, and he  _froze up again._ Was confessing always this difficult? Was saying the words  _hey you're sort of my favourite person in a romantic sense (or so I think) so please keep kissing me like you love me_ really this challenging?

Moving his palms down from his aching forehead, Kei buried his face into the trembling hands. This was somewhere beyond pathetic right now; how close could he get to confessing before he wouldn't be able to back out anymore?

Tetsu hummed lightly, the sound soft and kind, as he pulled Kei's hands away from his face. "Look at me, Tsukki," he murmured, and Kei did despite knowing his face must have been painted with a ridiculous shade of red. "You don't have to say anything," Tetsu continued when Kei looked at him, and laughed lightly, "…I think I get what you want to say, anyway, even if I'm a bit of an idiot myself."

" _A bit_?"

Tetsurou pouted. "Shush, Tsukki, I'm trying to get to the good part now." He pushed his forehead up against Kei's and brought his hands to the red cheeks. Up close, Kei could really see the gentleness in Tetsu's eyes, and it was  _terrible._  For his heart. For his physiology. For his already disarrayed mind that kept telling him that he needed to get out of there.

"Tsukki," Tetsu smiled a quivering smile, " _Tsukki._ "

Kei hadn't thought a name could sound so powerful when someone said it, but he was proved wrong. Tetsu said it like it was important, a treasure he had just discovered, something worth cherishing.

Again, Tetsu had stolen his breath just like that, without putting any effort into it.

Tetsu's eyes kept their gazes together, and they crinkled at the corners. Kei's hands remained on his own lap, but the urge to move them up into Tetsu's sorry mess of hair tingled in the back of his mind. There was so much he wanted to say to Tetsu, so much he wanted to do to communicate his feelings. Maybe even too much; all the things he wanted to say had merged into a thick lump in his throat that kept him from saying what he wanted to say.

But he didn't need to say them right now, since Tetsu was talking.

Kei breathed slowly as he waited for the other to continue, trying to ignore the flipping in his stomach as Tetsu's thumbs caressed at his cheeks.

"Tsukki," Tetsu repeated the nickname one more time, before heaving out a sigh. "To be honest, I suck at this. A lot. I thought I had it figured out what would say and how I would say it, but the real situation really is different." He swallowed thickly, the smile on his lips quivering as much as Kei's hands.

"I thought about taking the cliche route," Tetsu continued, the quiver creeping into his voice, "like roses and a candle-lit dinner, though I guess that's a bit ouf of my price range."

Kei could imagine it, he really could — Tetsu  _was_  rather sappy, if their fake dating had proved anything so far.

"And you'd also throw the roses at my face or something, so yeah," Tetsu laughed, sounding like he was on the verge of crying, which was  _ridiculous_  because it was  _Kei_  who should be crying out of frustration at his own inability to confess, "so I thought something plainer would fit you better. I tried to say it a few times before, but I never managed to get the right words out of my chest."

Ah, he too…  _Tetsu too…_

Tetsu smiled gently,  _lovingly_ , at the flabbergasted expression that took over Kei's face, thumbs rubbing soothingly up his cheeks.

"Earlier this game, too," Tetsu murmured, rubbing his forehead against Kei's, "I was wondering how I should do it. You apparently tried to, as well."

If possible, Kei's embarrassment over that small event intensified, but Tetsu ignored that, moving one of his hands to the nape of Kei's neck to gently rub away the tension there.

"There's no real way to dodge it at this point," Tetsu pursed his lips together, looking ready to bolt out the room, before composing himself again, and flashing one of his realest smiles at Kei — the most loving, the kindest, the one Kei wouldn't have trusted before.

The gym wasn't silent — the nets were taken off, other equipment moved away — but it might as well have been. Kei could only hear Tetsurou's words and his own irregular breaths. Somebody would probably come shoo them away soon, but for the time being, it might as well have been just the two of them in that gym.

"Kei," Tetsurou breathed his name against Kei's face, "I'm in love with you."

Kei wasn't the type to faint when he reached the peak of his emotions, but his head felt dangerously light right then, along with the rest of his body, like a great burden had been taken off of him.

He swallowed.

No sarcastic response came to mind.

"I'm in love with you," Tetsu repeated, and his smile trembled again. "I realized it a little while ago."

Kei tried to breathe. "Tetsu…"

"I wasn't lying when I said you are amazing," Tetsurou continued, eyelids falling completely shut as he took a shaky breath to reign in his emotions. "I wasn't pretending at all when we were together with the others."

"I," Kei finally found his voice again, "wasn't pretending at the end, either." He discovered the strength to move his arms, and so his hands went to cup Tetsurou's face like Tetsu's had done previously.

He wasn't good with words, unless scathing remarks and forced spite was counted, but he tried. Tetsurou needed to hear it, too.

"I don't," he said hesitantly, "whether I should use the word  _love_  like you did, but…"

"You don't have to," Tetsu said softly, "you don't owe me any  _I love you_ 's until you feel like it."

Kei took another breath, the heat on his face slowly subsiding. At least he wasn't alone in getting rattled — Tetsurou's face was just as red, if not even more so, and from the giddy movements Tetsu kept making it was easy to tell just how flustered he was.

"Just," Tetsu continued quietly, his hand moving into Kei's hair, "tell me if you want to make this fake dating into something real."

"I do," Kei said, quickly. "I do want that." Mortified by his own response, Kei's gaze shifted away and broke the eye contact they had held for the last several moments. "I want  _you_ …"

Well, that might be the most stupid thing that had ever left his mouth.

Regardless, Tetsurou certainly didn't think of it as stupid in any way, if the sharp intake of breath before Tetsu lunged into kissing Kei was any indication.

Tetsu's mouth was gentle against his despite the hurried movements and the sloppiness. What the technique lacked, though, was made up in the sheer number of emotions Kei felt Tetsu was putting into the kiss that soon transformed into several kisses, breathed out names, and fingers against each other's faces and necks.

It was a very dizzying and disorienting experience, what with Tetsu's lips against his and hands moving into his hair and on his face and then  _from_  his face to his waist while dodging Kei's arms in the process. Add the several murmurs of "Kei", and there you have it — an out-of-breath but very much almost-in-love Tsukishima Kei.

On the other side, there was an equally out-of-breath, very-in-love Kuroo Tetsurou, whose eyes shimmered and thin trails of tears trickled down to his cheeks.

"Are you— are you  _crying,"_  Kei asked, not quite believing his eyes as he tried to breathe again. " _Why—"_

Tetsurou shook his head at Kei, shushing him by stealing a quick kiss that made, as cheesy as it was, Kei  _melt._  Ugh. There ought to be a limit to how good Tetsurou was at kissing — or maybe it was more about the emotion than the technique itself. Maybe that was why Tetsurou tasted much sweeter right then than any other previous instances.

"I'm so happy, Tsukki," Tetsurou whispered against his lips. "I have been worrying about liking you this much."

"Urgh," Kei grunted, "do you ever stop being this sappy?"

"It gets worse," Tetsurou laughed, the watery look in his eyes making the inside of Kei's chest warmer. "I'm a rather hopeless romantic, or so I have been told."

Kei took a deep breath, the half of a smile that had been on his lips fading a little as an old insecurity choked at him. Tetsu noticed it, somehow, but he seemed to be very attuned to Kei's moods most of the time these days. "Tsukki?"

"Are you… really alright with me?" Kei forced the words out, frowning at himself and his weakness, and refused to meet Tetsu's gaze. "I'm not exactly… the easiest person in the long run."

Tetsu carefully turned Kei's head towards him again.

( _Ow,_  Kei faintly realized he had kept his back in an awkward half-turned position for a long while now. That  _hurt_.)

"Kei," Tetsu said seriously, "I love you for who you are. I enjoy your company to the point where seeing your face makes my heart leap. Your remarks, sarcastic or not, make me smile." He planted a small kiss on the tip of Kei's nose. "I have stuck around with you for a while now; why would I change my mind now?"

Kei was having trouble breathing, but that was due to him focusing on keeping his own tears in check. Who would have imagined that this would be such an emotional roller coaster…

"I like you too, Tetsu. Very… much."

Tetsu pressed their foreheads together once more, eyes closed as he gave a pleased hum. "That's all that matters, Tsukki."

"Hey, lovebirds up there! We're about to lock the doors, so it'd be best to leave!"

Kei nearly jumped out of his skin, but so did Tetsurou.

"We were having such a nice moment!" Tetsurou whined loudly, glancing down at the elderly man down on the court, who shook his head at them.

"Go have that moment elsewhere, boys."

"Tch," Tetsurou made a disgruntled noise as he stood up, pulling Kei with him, but not leaving before smacking a quick, reassuring kiss on both of Kei's cheeks. "Let's get going, Kei."

"Yeah."

One small step for anyone else, but a huge leap for Tsukishima Kei.

.

.

.

They made it back to Kei's apartment later after a short but painful trip on public transportation, majority of which Tetsurou had spent on murmuring nonsensical things to Kei about things that Kei would normally ignore or shrug off with a dismissive click of his tongue. Now, though, Tetsurou coaxed out a few short-lived laughs from him, though Kei blamed that on the giddiness that had yet to leave his being.

Once inside Kei's apartment, Kei finally voiced the thought that had been on his mind since the bus trip.

"You know, I was so sure that if you were to confess, it would be a lame volleyball pick-up line or something," he murmured as he hung his jacket. "Like  _nothing can block my love for you_  or something even lamer than that."

"Holy shit," Tetsurou paused his steps, staring at Kei. "I  _should_  have. Why didn't I think of that? Oh  _man._ "

Kei stared back at him. "I would have kicked you down to the court if you had tried, Tetsu."

" _Still_ ," Tetsurou insisted as he took off his own jacket. "Darn. Nothing can block my love for you, Kei."

"It's too late now!" Kei bit back the laugh that he felt bubbling in his throat. Damn you, Kuroo Tetsurou.

"Would you receive all my love if I sent it your way?"

"TETSU, I SWEAR TO GOD."

"One look from you is like a service ace — it hits the bottom of my heart with deadly accuracy."

"Does that mean you didn't receive it, then?"

"Hey, Tsukki, would you block me if I tried to kiss you?"

"No." Er. "I mean, yes. Because you're being a total ass."

"I wouldn't block you if you wanted to kiss me, though," Tetsurou whispered to Kei's ear as he waltzed by towards the couch they had shared several times before, humming a happy tune as Kei stared at the back of his head.

He couldn't stop a slow smile from widening on his lips and the warmth that curled inside his chest.

"Hey, Tsukki," Tetsurou turned to look back at him, grinning when he caught the smile on Kei's face. "Does this mean I have the boyfriend privileges to get to watch the Jurassic Park with you now?"

Kei looked away, trying to look as nonchalant as possible as he said, "Yes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only epilogue left.... then this fic is done. can u believe it. (it seems to come out of nowhere, I know, but rly... I just today realized that while there's something I could still include to the story, I'd rather leave it into the epilogue, and well... yeah...) 
> 
> thank you so much for all the support you have given me!!! you are the reason (and my love for sappy things, apparently) that I updated this as quickly as I have.


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not the end; rather, it's the beginning of something wonderful.

Kenma wasn't sure how he had ended up coming along with Kuro on his ridiculous quest to have a one volleyball match with old friends and acquaintances — from Karasuno, Nekoma and Fukurodani; all of whom Kenma knew by face — but he put some of the blame on Kuro's charisma and ability to convince people into believing things would get fun.

Well, Kuro wasn't exactly wrong about that, Kenma observed with a soft smile as he looked at the way Kuro kept throwing glances at the opposing team's tall, lanky middle blocker.

While Kuro's occasional "gah, Tsukki does things to my heart" speeches were rather troublesome and annoying to listen to (or read), it was easy to see how genuine his feelings were and how much those spilled into every action Kuro took around Tsukishima.

"Nice block, Tsukki!"

"I just blocked  _your_  spike. How big of an optimist can you be?"

Kenma hid a smile behind his hand as he listened in on the exchange Kuro had with Kei, the net separating them. Luckily, Kenma figured, since Kuro had the look of someone that was feeling particularly affectionate. It practically shone on his face.

"Hey, now, as your blocking tutor and beloved partner in excessive cuddling, I'm allowed to be a little proud, yeah?"

"I don't remember you ever being either one of those things, Tetsurou."

"Woah, you just erased a whole lot of personal history in one statement." Kuro sounded hurt, but Kenma knew it was the kind meant to lure Tsukishima in for some affectionate touches Kuro craved to give and receive.

"Ignore him," Kenma piped in, rubbing at the back of his neck as he glanced at Tsukishima. "Kuro's always like this."

"Oh, I know that much," Tsukishima's lips twitched upwards, either out of exasperation or fondness or both. Kenma bet it was a little bit of both. "You should have seen him when I crushed him in a game of Monopoly."

"Hey, I remember that," Bokuto piped in from Kenma's side, snickering like the memory was the funniest thing ever. "Man, I swear that was the fastest bankruptcy in the history of Monopoly."

Kuro let out a sound close to a sob. The sound of a broken man.

Kenma laughed.

"Holy shit, Kenma-san is laughing," Lev murmured by his side, but no one else paid any attention to it — Yamaguchi and Hinata were mostly busy high-fiving each other for a good play, and Sugawara and Sawamura kept stealing glances from each other. Akaashi, for once not by Bokuto's side but on the other side of the court, looked pensive. Bokuto's snickers echoed in the large gym that belonged to Nekoma High.

"Boyfriends are supposed to not drive the other to bankruptcy before anyone else," Kuro complained. "I was  _pulverized_! God, Tsukki."

Tsukishima shrugged his shoulders as he wiped his sweaty hand to his shorts, smirking at Kuro. "You wanna try again, Tetsu?" he asked, soft fondness dripping into his voice, and  _god_. Kenma turned his gaze away. It was kind of gross to watch two people so enamored with each other.

Lev didn't have a problem with that, however.

"Kenma-san, Kenma-san," the younger poked at Kenma's arm. "Since when have they been—?"

Kenma shoved Lev's fingers away by elbowing him, as his hands held the ball currently. "A while," he said simply, opting to leave out all the complicated stuff, like how Kuro and Tsukishima hadn't  _actually_  dated until recently, when they finally confessed to each other. Kenma had naturally heard all about it, whether he had wanted or not.

"Oh, you bet, Tsukki," Kenma caught Kuro's murmur despite his resolution to not pay attention to what those two were doing. "But maybe I'll first destroy you with my mad blocking skills."

"You can try," Tsukishima acknowledged, and Hinata on the background made a face. Kenma smiled slightly just as Shouyou caught his eyes and burst into a wide grin. "You're just as rusty at this as I am, anyway."

"Nah, I help Kenma out with the kids he's kind of coaching," Kuro said, nodding at Kenma. "Right, Kenma?"

"Yeah."  _I don't really want to get involved in your flirting, though…_

"'Coz children are definitely super challenging and difficult to block, mister 190 cm middle blocker," Tsukishima deadpanned at Kuro, who laughed sheepishly.

"Damn, you got me there."

"Can you two stop flirting and get back to your positions?" Sawamura was the brave soul that dared to break in, hand rubbing at the side of his neck while he threw looks at Kuro and Tsukishima that said  _now, if you would be so kind_.

Sawamura's aura had gotten even scarier after the nomination for their university team's captaincy, if what Shouyou had told Kenma about Sawamura had been right, and Tsukishima and Kuro  _did_ back off from each other as Kenma tossed the ball underneath the net.

"Suga's serve!"

.

.

.

"That was a good match," Shouyou smiled at Kenma, sweat trickling down his face in small floods. Kenma nodded, brow wrinkling in slight worry.

"Does your head feel fine…? You hit it pretty badly earlier in that receive."

"Pfff, I have had worse," Shoyou waved it off dismissively, flinching only slightly when Yamaguchi patted at the back of his head. "…Alright, alright, Tadashi, maybe not  _much_  worse."

"Geesh," Yamaguchi smiled faintly, worry shining in his eyes, "you try too hard in a match that's not even official, Shou-chan."

"I'm not always playing in the university team, so…" Shoyou pursed his lips, looking at Kenma and Yamaguchi with determination, "…I gotta take what I can get, especially when Kageyama isn't tossing for me!"

"You're in your university's team?" Kenma blinked. "You never told me."

"Shou-chan hasn't been playing much because of his ankle," Yamaguchi added softly, nudging at Shouyou's side. "It's gotten better now, but it was hard to keep him off the gym when he was supposed to recuperate."

"I just wanted to watch the other guys training, Tashi," Shouyou's face scrunched up rather childishly. "Especially Daichi-san and Suga-san."

 _I guess Kuro and Tsukishima aren't the only ones fond of nicknames,_  Kenma mulled in mild amusement. Speaking of those two… Kenma's gaze shifted over to the two that had yet to put any decent pants on, one of Kuro's hands resting at the nape of Tsukishima's neck. From this distance, Kenma could see the small smile that was on full display on Tsukishima's face; it was a very private kind of smile, meant only for Kuro. Watching it felt like he was intruding in on something special, and so Kenma tilted his gaze away from them, a faint blush on his cheeks.

But he had noticed the look Kuro had kept giving Tsukishima throughout the whole match, and that smiling expression was glued to his lips right now too.

The utterly smitten grin with no traces of fear, radiating extreme amount of sheer joy that could only barely be contained behind his lips.

Knowing Kuro, though, he was probably not even trying to contain himself.

Shoyou, too, had noticed where Kenma's eyes had trailed to, but he did nothing to try to conceal his staring. "I thought he'd be a little more friendlier when he got a relationship, but he's still a big jerk," he huffed, crossing his arms petulantly over his cross.

"You're just saying that because Tsukki wouldn't do blocking practices with you," Yamaguchi teased, playfully nudging at Shoyou on the side, right below his ribs.

"What do I care if that ass has given up on getting better?!"

"He hasn't given up," Kenma said quietly, looking down at his shoelaces. "Kuro has been practicing with him."  _Made me help him too…_

"Secret practice sessions?" Shouyou's lips curled into a knowing smirk. "More like secret  _make-out_  sessions."

"I was helping them, okay," Kenma murmured, face a radiant scarlet. He couldn't… deny the other's words, entirely.

Yamaguchi wasn't listening to them anymore as his attention went back to the couple that should probably be able to hear whatever they were saying, but they either didn't care or didn't hear. Could be either way — they were absorbed in whatever soft-spoken exchange of words they had.

Having been around Tsukki for a long while now, Yamaguchi could somewhat discern the differences in Tsukki's expressions and moods. Right then, he looked so much happier than he had seemed in the past few months, and  _that is an actual smile on his lips, though it's still Tsukki-like smile so it doesn't always look nice, but there it is!_

Yamaguchi felt the permanent knots in his stomach loosen a little bit when Tsukki's head tilted forward as he snorted out a laugh that wasn't as inaudible as he probably had hoped.

"He looks really happy," he said out loud.

"Hm?" Shoyou's eyes followed Yamaguchi's gaze. "Does he?"

"Yeah," Yamaguchi said quietly when Kuroo leaned over to kiss Tsukki, whose hand dove into the back of Kuro's head. "He does."

"Huh," Shouyou hummed, blinking a few times. "It's true that he hasn't really laughed like that, I guess… but anyway!" The sun-like smile swept the remnants of thoughtfulness on Shouyou's face as he turned to Kenma again. "You wanna get a pizza with us, Kenma?"

"I'd like that."

Kenma gave Kuro and Tsukishima one last glance before turning to gather the last of his stuff and trying to not pay any mind to it when the familiar volleyball lines started behind him. Ugh. Kuro really ought to stop that…

"I'll never toss you away carelessly!"

"That was your worst one yet, Tetsu. Are you even trying?"

"Oh, give me another chance… I have used the obvious ones already…"

"You're out. You lost the set point."

"Tsukkiiiii…"

"…You still have one set to go."

When there was nothing but silence, Kenma turned his gaze back to them, tilting his head in wonder.

"I love you," Kuro said, and Kenma's mouth twitched. What had he been worried about in the fist place?

"Yeah," Tsukishima's response was quiet, oddly subdued and hesitant. "I—"

"Remember what I said, Tsukki. Only when you want, and never when you're pressured into it, okay?"

"Alright."

 _They'll be okay,_ Kenma deduced as he followed Yamaguchi and Shouyou out of the Nekoma High's gym, leaving Kuro and Tsukishima to lock the doors.  _It's only the start of something wonderful._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is!!!! I can't believE WE'RE FINALLY HERE ("finally"... this took like three weeks. omfg i was fast.)
> 
> I'd like to thank everyone once more! You have encouraged me so so much; I will definitely continue writing KuroTsuki in the future, too.
> 
> EDIT: I forgot to mention, but I'm planning to write a YamaHina-centered prequel to this; it will include the fake dating deal Kuroo and Tsukki struck up, too.


End file.
